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HISTORY 


METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS, 


Krom  1793  to  1832. 


BY  REV.  JAMES    LEATON,  D-  D., 

OF  THE  ILLINOIS  CONFERENCE. 


CINCINNATI: 
PRINTED  BY  WALDEN  AND  STOWE, 

FOR   THK   AUTHOR. 
1883. 


Copyright  by 

JAMES  "L  EATON, 

1883. 


DEAR  BRETHREN, — 

Five  years  ago  you  honored  me  by  the 
appointment  of  Conference  Historian.  I  have 
during  these  years  been  engaged  in  collecting  mat- 
ter bearing  upon  the  history  of  Methodism  in  Illi- 
nois. But  the  care  of  heavy  pastoral  charges,  and 
the  necessity  of  establishing  the  truth  of  the  matter 
obtained,  have  prevented  me  from  making  that 
progress  with  the  work  that  I  had  expected  when 
commencing  it.  The  first  installment  is  now  pub- 
lished with  the  hope  that  it  will  meet  your  expec- 
tations, and  prove  available  to  the  future  historian. 
Should  you  approve  this  volume,  if  the  life  of  the 
compiler  be  spared,  it  will  be  followed  by  a  second, 
and  possibly  a  third,  for  which  a  large  amount  of 
matter  has  already  been  gathered,  and  some  prog- 
ress made  in  the  arrangement  of  it. 
Your  fellow-laborer, 

JAMES  LEATON. 
EUSHVILLE,  ILLINOIS,  June  18,  1883. 

387339 


CONTENTS. 


fVt  I. 

WESTERN 

1793 — 1811. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Introductory — First  Settlers — Joseph  Ogle — Joseph  Lil- 
lard— John  Clarke— Hosea  Rigg— William  Scott,  .  .  Page  27 

CHAPTER  II. 

Conference  at  Mt.  Gerizim,  Kentucky,  1803  —  Illinois 
Mission  formed — Benjamin  Young — Thomas  Harrison — John 
Kirkpatrick — Lewis  Garrett, 34 

CHAPTER  III. 

Conference  of  1804 — Joseph  Oglesby — Locates — Practices 
Medicine — Usefulness  and  Lahors — Visits  Missouri,  ...  41 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Appointments  for  1805— Charles  R.  Matheny— "William 
McKendree — Entrance  upon  the  ministry, 45 

CHAPTER  V. 

Western  Conference,  1806— Jesse  Walker— Camp-meet- 
ings— Church  at  Shiloh,  St.  Clair  County— First  Sermon  in 
Chicago — St.  Louis — Cape  Girardeau — Pioneering — Enoch 

Moore, 48 

5 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

"Western  Conference,  1807  —  John  Clingan  —  James 
Ward, Page  66 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Conference,  1808 — Samuel  Parker — Personal  Appear- 
ance— Labors — Incident, 70 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Conference,  1809  —  Abraham  Amos  —  Marriage  —  Lo- 
cation,   74 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Conference,  1810 — Daniel  Fraley — First  Society  at  Union 
Grove — Thomas  Kirkman — Learner  Blackmail — Josias  Ran- 
dle— Incident, 76 

CHAPTER  X. 

Conference,  1811 — Appointments — George  A.  Colbert — 
Baker  Wrather — James  A  xley— Characteristics — His  Preach- 
ing—Death— Description  of  Axley  by  Peter  Cartwright,  .  85 


fVt  II. 

TENNESEE  CONFERENCE, 

1812 — 1815. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Division  of  Western  Conference— First  Session  of  Ten- 
nessee Conference,  1812— Arrangement  of  the  Work— James 
Dixon— John  Smith— David  Gardner— Peter  Cartwright,  .  95 


CONTENTS.  1 

CHAPTER  II. 

Conference  of  1813— Ivy  Walke — James  Porter— Josiah 
Patterson — His  Appointments— Personal  Appearance  and 
Peculiarities— Labors  and  Exposure, Page  101 

CHAPTER  III. 

Conference,  1814 — Appointments — James  Noland — John 
C.  Harbison, 104 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Conference,  1815— Work  Arranged  —  First  Churches — 
Presbyterianism  Introduced — Itinerant  Labors — Large  Cir- 
cuits—  Hardships — A  Winter  Trip — At  a  Tavern  —  John 
Scripps  —  Superannuation  —  Characteristics  —  Church  rela- 
tions—Death, .  .  107 


fVt  III. 

MISSOURI  CONFERENCE:, 

1816 — 1823. 


CHAPTER  I. 

First  Session  of  Missouri  Conference,  1816 — Samuel  H. 
Thompson — Appearance  and  Character — "Beggar-General" — 
Superannuation — Jesse  Haile— Characteristics — Jacob  White- 
sides—William  R.  Jones— John  Harris,— Camp-meeting,  .  131 

CHAPTER  II. 

Conference,  1817 — Samuel  Mitchell — Zadoc  Casey — Anec- 
dote— Joseph  Pownal — William  Sterrett — Conversion — Inci- 
dents of  his  life, 146 


9 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 

.  Illinois  Admitted  as  a  State— Conference  Session,  1818— 
Appointments— Thomas  Heliums— Thomas  Davis— Charles 
Slocumb— Style  and  Characteristics, Page  151 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Conference,  1819 — Mt.  Carmel  founded — William  Beau- 
champ — Character — Mt.  Carmel  Circuit — Nathaniel  Pinck- 
ard— Bennett  Maxey — John  D.  Gilham — A  Missionary  Society 
Founded — David  Sharp — James  Lowry, 157 

CHAPTER  V. 

Conference,  1820 — Joseph  Dixon — Sangamon  County — 
John  Cooper — Nathan  Scarritt — New  Settlements — The  Corrie 
Family — Parham  Randle — Jacob  Lurton — Alexander  McAl- 
lister— Hackaliah  Vredenburg — Francis  Moore — John  Stew- 
art—James Simms, 107 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Conference,  1821— Joseph  Basey— William  Padon— Rob- 
ert Delap — Thomas  Rice — James  Scott — Parham  Randle — 
John  Glanville, 178 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Conference,  1822  —  Reuben  Harrison  —  Samuel  Hull  — 
William  H.  Smith— Anthony  W.  Casad— Cornelius  Ruddle- 
John  Blaisdell— William  Town  send— Isaac  N.  Piggott— His 
Career, 183 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Conference,  1823— New  Settlements — Beginnings  of  Meth- 
odism in  Paris  and  Elsewhere — William  McReynolds — Fred- 
erick B.  Leach— John  Dew— Orceiieth  Fisher— Jesse  Green- 
John  Miller, 1'JO 


CONTENTS. 


IV. 
ILLINOIS  CONKKR.KNCE,  . 

1824  —  1831. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Illinois  Conference  Organized  —  Proceedings  of  Confer- 
ence— Preachers  in  Illinois — Changes  in  the  Work — Circuits — 
Peoria — James  Armstrong — Samuel  Bassett — William  Moore — 
Thomas  Randle —  James  E.  Johnson — William  Medford  — 
Ehenezer  T.  Webster— Peter  Cartwright— Mrs.  Cartwright— 
Controversies — Characteristics, Page  205 

CHAPTER  II. 

Illinois  Conference,  Second  Session,  1825 — Mission  Work — • 
Conference  Action — Leven  Green — Charles  Holliday — James 
Hadley— John  W.  McReynolds— Philip  Cole— Asa  D.  West- 
Joseph  Foulks— AVilliain  Chambers— William  See,  .  .  .228 

CHAPTER  III. 

Conference,  1826— Correspondence — Changes  Made — Re- 
vivals— Dr.  John  Logan — Isaac  Landis — Richard  Gaines — Eli 
P.  Farmer — Thomas  H.  Files — William  Evans — Richard  Har- 
grave — Effects  of  his  Preaching — Traits  of  Character — Joseph 
Tarkington — Isaac  S.  House — Characteristics, 244 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Conference,  1827 — Business  Transacted — Course  of  Study 
Recommended  —  Conference  Seminary  —  Indian  Mission  — 
Heresy  Investigation  —  Camp-meetings  —  New  Societies 
formed  —  Abel  L.  Williams — Educational  Interests  —  Miles 
Hart — John  Fox— Style  of  Preaching — Aaron  Wood — Samuel 
C.  Cooper— John  Hogan— William  Echols— John  Kerns — 


I 


10  CONTENTS. 

Smith  L.  Robinson  —  Isaac  Scarritt  —  Circumstances  of  his 
Conversion  and  Call  to  Preach — Labors — John  T.  Johnson — 
Samuel  Bogart, Page  257 

CHAPTER  V. 

Conference,  1828  —  Proceedings  —  Lebanon  Seminary  — 
Methodist  Protestant  Controversy  —  Jacob  Baker  — George 
Locke— Style  and  Habits— Asahel  L.  Risley— Wm.  Mavity— 
Miles  Huffaker — Asahel  E.  Phelps — Debate  with  Mormons — 
William  L.  Deneen  — James  McKean  — John  H.  Benson  — 
Hardin  A.  Tarkington— John  E.  French, 278 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Conference,  1829  —  Business  of  Conference  —  Seminary 
Established  —  Articles  of  Agreement  —  Conference  Action  — 
Indian  Mission  Closed— Papers  Presented— Changes  Made- 
John  A.  Decker — Alfred  W.  Arrington — His  Career — Anthony 
F.  Thompson — Wilson  Pitner — Call  to  the  Ministry — Ludi- 
crous Incident — Anecdote — Characteristics — Eccentricities — 
Style  of  Preaching  —  Lorenzo  Edwards  —  James  Bankson  — 
David  B.  Carter— Benjamin  C.  Stephenson, 300 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Illinois  Conference,  1830 — Proceedings — Sunday-school 
Union  —  McKcndree  College  —  Missions  Constituted  —  Revi- 
vals—  Benjamin  Hypes  —  Dr.  George  H.  Harrison  —  New 
Places  Occupied— Samuel  Sackett— William  Peter— Thomas 
Kersey  —  Hiram  M.  Tremble  —  Edward  R.  Ames  —  As  a 
Preacher — As  a  Presiding  Officer — His  Benevolence — William 
H.  Askins — Philip  T.  Cordier — James  P.  Crawford — Spencer 
W.  Hunter — Amos  Prentice — John  Sinclair — In  Snow  and 
Ice— His  Characteristics — Simeon  Walker — William  D.  R. 
Trotter  — His  Career  —  Summary  of  Character  — John  Van 
Cleve— Boyd  Phelps— S.  M.  Otwell— Stephen  R.  Beggs,  .  335 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Conference  Session,  1831  —  Proceedings  —  Sunday-school 
Union — Temperance — A  Draft  Withheld — Resolutions — New 


CONTENTS.  11 

Arrangements— New  Places  Occupied— Church  built— James 
Plasters  —  James  M.  Massey  — William  McHenry  —  James 
Walker — Barton  Randle — Superannuation — Levi  Springer — 
John  T.  Mitchell— Outline  of  his  Life— As  a  Pastor— In 
Church  Work— William  S.  Crissey— His  Faithfulness— Will- 
iam Royal — Removal  to  Oregon — Incidents  on  the  Way — 
Concluding  Note, Page  378 


* 


is  not  so  much  a  history  as  a  collection  of  ina- 
-L  terial  for  the  use  of  the  future  "historian.  Webster 
defines  history  as  "a*  statement  of  the  progress  of  a 
nation  or  an  institution,  with  philosophical  inquiries 
respecting  effects  and  causes,  in  distinction  from  annals, 
•which  relate  simply  the  facts  and  events  of  each  year 
in  strict  chronological  order,  without  any  observations 
of  the  annalist;  and  from  biography,  which  is  the  record 
of  an  individual's  life." 

The  larger  the  field  of  the  historian,  and  the  longer 
the  period  embraced  in  his  work,  the  more  fully  can  he 
carry  out  this  definition  of  the  great  lexicographer,  and 
make  the  philosophical  element  the  more  prominent. 
But  as  his  field  becomes  less,  and  his  time  shorter,  the 
more  will  the  annalistic  and  biographical  elements  pre- 
dominate over  the  philosophical. 

The  stately,  but  unreadable,  histories  of  Gibbon  and 
Hume,  the  former  covering  a  period  of  more  than  four- 
teen hundred  years,  and  embracing  the  whole  civilized 
world,  and  the  latter  covering  the  whole  period  of  En- 
glish history,  afford  examples  of  the  one ;  whilst  that 
most  interesting  and  readable  of  modern  historical -works, 
Macaulay's  England,  confined  as  it  is  to  the  events  of  a 
brief  period,  well  illustrates  the  other.  So  in  ecclesiast- 
ical history,  whilst  the  magnificent  volumes  of  Neander, 
with  their  grand  thoughts,  well  rounded  periods,  and 


14  PRELIMINARY  ESSAY. 

philosophic  generalizations,  will  find  a  place  on  the 
shelves  of  the  library  and  be  occasionally  referred  to  by 
the  student,  the  sketchy  volumes  of  that  model  denomi- 
national historian,  Abel  Stevens,  will  find  their  place  on 
the  study  or  centre  table,  to  be  read  and  re-read  with 
continually  increasing  delight. 

In  the  very  limited  field  assigned  the  writer,  the 
preparation  of  a  history  of  Methodism  in  a  single  State, 
annals  and  biography  must  necessarily  be  made  more 
prominent  features  than  history  in  the  proper  or  Web- 
sterian  sense  of  the  term.  The  field  is  too  limited,  the 
period  too  brief,  and  the  actors  too  few,  for  philosophic 
generalizations.  A  simple  narration  of  facts  and  events 
in  their  chronological  order,  biographical  sketches  of  the 
principal  actors,  with  such  occasional  reflections  as  may 
be  suggested  by  the  circumstances  narrated,  must  consti- 
tute the  leading  features  of  a  history  of  Methodism  iu 
Illinois. 

And  yet  in  the  preparation  of  such  a  work,  simple 
and  easy  as  it  may  appear  to  one  who  had  not  paid 
special  attention  to  the  subject,  serious  difficulties  are 
encountered.  As  Dr.  Stevens  says  in  the  preface  to  his 
History  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  "Such  are 
the  paucity,  the  carelessness  even,  and  consequent  inac. 
curacy  of  our  early  documents,  that  my  task  has  had 
extreme  embarrassments."  "The  private  correspondence, 
the  collection  and  combination  of  fugitive  and  fragment- 
ary accounts,  the  collation  of  documents,  the  harmoniz- 
ation of  conflicting  statements,  the  grouping  of  events 
lacking  often  their  most  essential  connecting  links,  the 
portraiture  of  characters,  historically  important  but  al- 
most totally  obscured  in  undeserved  oblivion,  present 
embarrassments  which  may  well  constrain  the  writer  to 
throw  down  his  pen  in  despair." 


PRELIMINA  R  Y  ESS  A  Y.  15 

Let  us  look  at  the  authorities  to  be  consulted  by  the 
historian  of  Methodism  in  Illinois,  the  sources  whence 
he  is  to  draw  facts  and  events,  often  obscure,  sometimes 
apparently  contradictory,  and  combine  them  in  one  con- 
tinuous, harmonious,  and  truthful  whole. 

And  first  in  order,  though  not  in  importance,  are  the 
Journals  of  the  General  Conference.  From  them  Ave 
learn  the  changes  that  have  been  made  in  the  bound- 
aries of  the  annual  conferences,  and  the  names  of  the 
brethren  who  occupied  seats  in  the  General  Conference  as 
delegates.  It  is  true  that  the  boundaries  of  the  annual 
conferences  are  set  forth  in  the  Book  of  Discipline;  but 
the  earlier  editions  of  the  Discipline  are  now  very  scarce, 
and  virtually  inaccessible  to  most  of  us.  And  it  is  also 
true  that  the  journals  of  the  annual  conferences  show 
who  Avere  elected  as  delegates  to  the  General  Conference, 
but  they  do  not  show  who  of  those  elected  as  delegates 
actually  served.  Until  1856  no  list  of  reserve  delegates 
was  published  in  the  General  Conference  journals,  so 
that  the  lists  of  delegates  as  published  in  them  often 
vary  from  the  statements  of  elections  in  the  annual  con- 
ference journals. 

For  instance,  in  1831  the  Illinois  Conference  elected 
as  its  delegates  to  the  General  Conference  of  1832  John 
Strange,  Allen  Wiley,  George  Locke,  James  Armstrong, 
S.  H.  Thompson,  John  Dew,  William  Shanks,  P.  Cart- 
wright,  and  C.  W.  Ruter ;  and  as  its  reserves  Thos.  S. 
Hitt,  James  Scott,  Joseph  Oglesby,  and  Jesse  Haile. 
But  in  the  Journal  of  the  General  Conference  the  names 
of  Strange,  Dew,  and  Cartwright  do  not  appear,  and 
Hitt  is  named  as  one  of  the  delegates.  So  that,  although 
nine  delegates  and  four  reserves  were  elected  by  the  Illi- 
nois Conference,  the  actual  representation  in  the  General 
Conference  was  only  six  of  the  delegates  and  one  of  the 


1 6  PRELIMINAR  Y  ESS  A  Y. 

reserves.  A  comparison  of  the  General  and  Annual  Con- 
ference journals  thus  becomes  necessary  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain the  facts. 

The  second  authority,  and  in  some  respects  the  most 
important,  to  be  consulted  by  the  historian  of  Method- 
ism in  Illinois,  is  the  General  Minutes.  From  them  we 
learn  the  conference  history  and  standing  of  all  the 
preachers  from  the  time  they  are  received  on  trial  until 
they  cease  to  be  itinerant  Methodist  preachers  by  death, 
location,  withdrawal,  or  expulsion.  There  should  be  no 
difficulty  in  tracing  the  career  of  every  one  who  has 
ever  belonged  to  an  annual  conference.  And  yet  he 
who  attempts  it  will  soon  discover  that  there  are  many 
errors  and  omissions  in  the  General  Minutes,  causing 
him  great  present  perplexity,  and  often  requiring  hours 
of  labor  for  their  correction.  There  are  many  errors  in 
names.  The  bishops  who  furnish  the  manuscript  for  the 
Minutes  are  not  always  the  most  legible  or  careful  of 
writers,  and  sometimes  their  mistakes  are  as  ludicrous  as 
they  are  embarrassing.  Who  could  imagine,  for  instance, 
as  he  looks  over  the  Minutes  of  the  Illinois  Conference 
for  1843  that  Scollin  meant  Leollin,  that  Halton  Avas 
intended  for  Hatton,  that  Melburn  was  Milburn,  or  that 
Joseph  Seaton  meant  James  Leatou?  It  is  sometimes 
the  case,  too,  that  a  preacher,  though  appointed  to  a 
certain  charge  by  the  bishop,  is  afterwards  changed  to 
another  by  the  presiding  elder,  and  the  General  Minutes 
fail  to  show  the  change.  For  example,  the  Minutes 
show  that  Bradley  Hungerford  was  appointed  to  the 
Shelbyville  Circuit  in  1856  as  junior  preacher.  Yet 
after  traveling  there  a  few  months  he  was  transferred 
to  the  newly  formed  Pana  Circuit.  In  1875  D.  H. 
Stubblefield  was  appointed  by  the  bishop  to  Irving  and 
Butler,  as  the  Minutes  show,  but  before  commencing  his 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY.  17 

labors  there  for  the  year  lie  was  removed  by  the  presi- 
ding elder  to  Tower  Hill.  And  such  changes  occur  al- 
most every  year.  There  arc,  too,  many  omissions  of 
names  in  the  General  Minutes.  By  the  carelessness  of 
some  one  a  name  is  dropped  out  of  the  list,  and  in  some 
cases  remains  out  two  or  three  years  before  the  omission 
is  discovered  and  rectified.  Previous  to  the  year  1869 
the  writer  discovered  that  there  had  been  omissions  of 
the  names  of  preachers  connected  with  the  Illinois  Con- 
ference amounting  in  all  to  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
years.  Again  there  are  perplexing  omissions  of  the 
manner  in  which  preachers  cease  to  travel.  There  are 
seventeen  preachers,  once  connected  with  the  Illinois 
Conference,  whose  names  simply  disappear  from  the 
Minutes;  and  the  only  way  in  which  we  can  ascertain 
what  became  of  them — whether  they  were  located,  ex- 
pelled, withdrew,  or  died — is  by  an  examination  of  the 
journals  of  the  conferences  of  which  they  were  members 
at  the  time  of  their  disappearance. 

The  General  Minutes  purport  to  give  memoirs  of 
those  who  have  died  in  the  work ;  though  in  many  cases, 
when  looking  for  the  memoir  of  a  deceased  preacher,  we 
are  met  with  the  disappointing  notice,  "  Memoir  not  re- 
ceived." Some  of  these  memoirs  are  of  great  value  to 
the  historian,  as  well  as  highly  edifying  to  the  Christian ; 
but  as  a  whole  they  are  too  monotonously  laudatory. 
Some  of  them  are  defective  in  very  important  matters, 
giving  no  account  of  the  nativity  or  conversion  of  the 
deceased  ;  whilst  others  furnish  a  bare  statement  of  the 
appointments  of  the  departed  without  any  estimate  of 
his  character  or  account  of  his  labors.  And  but  few 
present  to  us  a  faithful  portrait  of  the  real  man,  as 
Tyerman  does  in  his  Life  of  Wesley. 

We  learn,  too,  from  the  General  Minutes  the  changes 


18  PRELIMINARY  ESSAY. 

that  have  taken  place  in  the  plan  of  the  work,  the  new 
charges  formed,  and  the  changes  in  the  districts.  To 
understand  these  changes,  however,  a  very  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  topography  of  the  country  is  indis- 
pensable, as  well  as  a  very  careful  examination  of  the 
quarterly  conference  records.  And  even  then  the  exact 
territory  embraced  in  the  charges  must  often  remain  in 
doubt.  It  is  only  since  the  circuits  have  been  named 
after  the  chief  towns  in  them  that  we  can  determine 
their  location  with  certainty.  So  long  as  they  were 
called  by  the  name  of  some  stream  upon  which  they 
might  touch,  as  Wabash,  or  Muddy  River,  or  Okaw,  we 
have  to  look  to  other  authorities  than  their  names,  to  de- 
termine their  whereabouts.  The  General  Minutes  of 
1824  tell  us  that  Wm.  Medford  was  assigned  to  the 
Mississippi  Circuit.  We  have  to  go  to  other  sources 
than  the  Minutes  to  learn  that  it  embraced  what  are 
now  the  counties  of  Jersey,  Greene,  Scott,  Morgan,  and 
Macoupin.  So  the  General  Minutes  of  1828  tell  us  that 
S.  H.  Thompson  and  W.  L.  Deneen  were  appointed  to 
the  Shoal  Creek  Circuit.  And  yet,  but  for  a  letter  from 
the  latter,  we  should  not  have  known  that  that  circuit 
embraced  all  the  territory  from  Trenton,  in  St.  Clair 
County,  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Okaw,  in  what  is  now 
Champaign  County.  And  so  with  most  of  the  earlier 
charges  in  the  conference. 

The  General  Minutes  also  furnish  us  with  the  statis- 
tics of  the  Church,  from  which  we  learn  its  growth  in 
numbers,  wealth,  and  benevolence.  Previous  to  1838  the 
only  reports  published  were  of  numbers,  the  distinction 
between  white  and  colored  members  being  kept  up  until 
1856.  In  1839  the  number  of  local  preachers  was  first 
reported ;  and  in  1848  the  probationers  were  reported,  as 
distinct  from  the  members  in  full  connection.  And  since 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY.  19 

then  the  reports  have  become  more  and  more  extensive 
with  each  successive  quadrennium,  until  now  almost  every 
thing  connected  with  the  numbers,  property,  work,  or  be- 
nevolence of  the  Church  is  made  a  matter  of  record,  and 
published  in  the  General  Minutes. 

There  is  one  peculiarity  in  the  dates  of  the  early 
Minutes  that  has  been  overlooked  by  some  writers.  Pre- 
vious to  the  year  1836  the  Minutes  of  the  Western  and 
most  of  the  Southern  conferences  are  dated  one  year  in 
advance  of  the  true  time.  For  instance,  the  Minutes  of 
the  Illinois  Conference  for  1824  are  found  in  the  General 
Minutes  for  1825.  The  reason  of  this  is  that  the  Minute 
year  began  with  the  first  of  the  Fall  conferences,  and 
closed  with  the  last  of  the  Spring  conferences,  and  the 
volume  received  the  date  of  the  latter.  Since  1836,  how- 
ever, the  dates  have  conformed  to  the  actual  time.  Dr«. 
Cart wright  and  others  have,  in  some  instances,  overlooked 
this  peculiarity,  and  have  thus  given  the  wrong  dates  in 
their  works. 

The  journals  of  the  annual  conferences  furnish  our 
third  source  of  information.  In  them  we  have  accounts 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  conferences  at  their  annual  ses- 
sions, the  changes  that  occur  in  the  relations  of  the  preach- 
ers, accounts  of  elections  to  orders,  and  the  various  reso- 
lutions adopted  and  action  taken  on  the  matters  before 
the  body.  But  though  the  journals  of  the  conferences  in 
Illinois  have  been  usually  well  kept,  and  the  old  journal 
from  1824  to  1835  especially  is  a  mine  of  curious  and 
valuable  information,  in  two  respects  the  journals  fail  to 
meet,  the  wants  of  the  writer  of  Methodist  history.  First, 
they  cover  only  a  part  of  the  existence  of  Methodism  in 
Illinois.  For  the  first  ten  years  of  the  life  of  Methodism 
in  this  region,  from  1703  to  1803,  it  was  not  connected 
with  any  conference,  and  had  no  ministerial  oversight, 


20  PRELIMINARY  ESSAY. 

save  that  of  local  preachers.  From  1803  to  1812  it  was 
connected  with  the  Western  Conference,  which  then  em- 
braced all  the  territory  west  of  the  Alleghauy  Mountains; 
and  whether  the  journals  of  its  sessions  are  in  existence 
the  writer  can  not  learn.  From  1812  to  1816  it  was  a 
part  of  the  Tennessee  Conference,  the  journals  of  which 
probably  still  exist,  as  they  are  often  referred  to  in  the 
works  of  Drs.  McFerrin  and  Redford.  From  1816  to 
1824  it  constituted  a  part  of  the  Missouri  Conference. 
Whether  its  journals  for  that  period  are  in  being  the 
writer  has  been  unable  to  ascertain.  And,  secondly, 
there  are  in  the  old  conference  journals  numerous  ref- 
erences to  documents  placed  on  file,  many  of  Avhich  can 
not  now  be  found.  Sometimes  reports  of  committees  of 
inquiry  in  cases  affecting  the  character  of  some  of  the 
preachers  are  merely  referred  to  in  the  conference  jour- 
nal, and  the  reference  is  so  obscure  that,  without  the 
report  itself,  we  can  not  learn  the  nature  of  the  complaint 
made,  and,  consequently,  must  remain  ignorant  of  some 
of  the  facts  needed  to  enable  us  to  form  a  correct  esti- 
mate of  the  individual.  An  instance  of  this  is  found  in 
the  journal  for  1827,  an  account  of  which  is  given  in  the 
body  of  this  work. 

The  journals  of  the  quarterly  conferences,  which  ought 
to  be  among  the  most  satisfactory  and  reliable  sources 
of  information  to  the  Methodist  historian,  are,  unfortu- 
nately, amongst  the  most  uncertain  and  unsatisfactory. 
Most  of  the  early  quarterly  conference  records  are  lost  or 
destroyed.  The  oldest  that  the  writer  has  yet  discovered 
reaches  back  only  to  1834.  Some  of  those  now  existing 
have  been  shamefully  mutilated.  An  old  record  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  writer  some  years  ago  that  had  been 
used  by  somebody  as  a  scrap-book,  clippings  from  news- 
papers having  been  pasted  over  all  the  quarterly  confer- 


PEELIMINAR  Y  ESXA  Y.  21 

ence  proceedings.  It  took  a  day's  labor  of  two  persons, 
with  damp  cloths  und  paper  knives,  to  remove  this  extra- 
neous matter.  Fortunately  the  paper  upon  which  and 
the  ink  with  which  the  record  had  been  kept  were  so 
good  that  the  writing  was  still  legible.  Some  of  the  old 
quarterly  conference  journals  are  in  the  hands  of  private 
individuals,  who  refuse  to  surrender  them  to  the  author- 
ities of  the  Church ;  and  some  even  refuse  to  allow  them 
to  be  copied.  In  some  cases  the  penmanship  in  these 
journals  is  such  as  to  be  almost  illegible  ;  and  as  to  the 
orthography  in  some  of  them,  that  of  Josh  Billings  is 
perfection  in  comparison.  Most  of  these  records  are  so 
brief  as  to  be  valueless.  In  many  cases,  as  in  the  an- 
nual conference  journals,  references  are  made  to  docu- 
ments placed  on  file  that  can  not  now  be  found;  and  in 
but  few  instances  are  the  "Pastors'  Reports,"  which  ought 
to  supply  to  the  historian  his  most  valuable  material, 
placed  on  record  at  all ;  and  even  when  they  are,  many 
of  them  are  so  meagre  as  to  be  of  but  little  value.  There 
are  a  few  quarterly  conference  journals,  however,  in  which 
the  "  Pastors'  Reports"  are  not  only  copied  in  the  record, 
but  present,  in  addition  to  the  statistics  called  for  by  the 
Discipline,  a  full  history  of  the  charge  for  the  quarter. 
And  such  should  they  all  be. 

From  published  histories  and  biographies  much  valua- 
ble matter  may  be  obtained.  Stevens's  "  History  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church"  supplies  a  few  items  of 
interest.  But  to  Redford's  "History  of  Methodism  in 
Kentucky,"  McFerrin's  "Methodism  in  Tennessee,"  and 
Me Anally's  "  Methodism  in  Missouri,"  the  historian  of 
Methodism  in  Illinois  will  find  himself  compelled  to  refer 
most  frequently  for  information  in  regard  to  the  early 
preachers  in  Illinois,  most  of  whom  came  to  us  from 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  The  "  History  of  the  West 


22  PRELIM  IN  A  R  Y  ESS  A  Y. 

and  North-west,"  by  Rev.  S.  R.  Bcggs,  contains  much 
valuable  information  in  regard  to  early  Methodism  in 
Illinois  as  well  as  in  Indiana.  The  writings  of  Dr.  J.  M. 
Peck,  the  noted  Baptist  divine,  contain  much  of  interest 
in  regard  to  the  early  settlement  of  the  country  and  the 
pioneers  of  Methodism  in  it.  The  autobiography  of 
Peter  Cartwright  is  also  valuable  so  far  as  it  relates  to 
his  own  personal  history.  From  "Morris's  Miscellany," 
"Recollections  of  John  Johnson,"  J.  C.  Smith's  "Early 
Methodism  in  Indiana,"  and  W.  C.  Smith's  "  Indiana 
Miscellany,"  some  information  may  be  obtained  in  regard 
to  some  of  the  early  Illinois  preachers.  The  secular  his- 
tories of  the  State,  particularly  Reynolds's  and  Ford's, 
must  also  be  consulted.  The  eccentric  U.  S.  Linder,  in 
his  "  Recollections,"  gives  sketches  of  a  few  prominent 
Methodists.  And  from  the  county  histories,  now  becom- 
ing so  common,  some  valuable  matter  may  be  obtained. 
It  is  true  that  many  errors,  particularly  in  dates,  are  to 
be  found  in  these  histories,  yet  many  items  of  interest 
may  be  gathered  from  them,  and  in  most  cases  their 
errors  can  readily  be  corrected  by  comparison  with  other 
and  more  reliable  authorities.  Some  valuable  local 
sketches  have  also  been  published,  of  which  the  historian 
of  Methodism  will  gladly  avail  himself.  Such  are  the 
pamphlets  of  Dr.  Stevenson  on  Methodism  in  Rushville, 
the  Semi-centennial  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Hills- 
boro,  the  Annual  Compendium  of  Methodism  in  Chi- 
cago, etc. 

The  periodicals  of  the  Church  constitute  another  val- 
uable source  of  supply  to  the  Methodist  historian.  The 
obituaries,  the  revival  notices,  the  accounts  of  church 
building  and  dedications,  the  controversies  on  doctrine 
and  Church  polity,  and  the  occasional  historical  sketches 
constitute  an  invaluable  treasure  to  the  compiler  of  Meth- 


PRELIMINARY  ESSA Y.  23. 

odist  history.  And,  fortunately,  full  files  of  the  leading 
papers  have  been  preserved,  and  are  accessible.  The  old 
volumes  of  the  Methodist  Magazine  contain  many  interest- 
ing revival  notices  and  sketches  from  Theophilus  Arrniu- 
ius  and  others.  And  in  the  files  of  the  Western,  North- 
western, and  Central  Christian  Advocates  may  be  found 
numerous  articles  of  great  interest  and  value. 

Another  source  of  information,  of  which  the  writer 
has  largely  availed  himself,  is  correspondence  with  the 
ministers  and  laymen  of  the  Church.  Whilst  a  few  of 
those  to  whom  he  has  written  have  paid  no  attention  to 
his  requests,  from  some  of  them  he  has  received  sketches 
that  are  invaluable,  aud  items  of  history  that  could  have 
been  gathered  from  no  other  sources.  And  he  would 
here  especially  acknowledge  his  obligations  to  Dr.  Aaron 
Wood  and  Rev.  Joseph  Tarkington,  of  the  Indiana  Con- 
ferences; Revs.  Ephraim  Joy  and  James  B.  Woolard,  of 
the  Southern  Illinois  Conference ;  Rev.  S.  R.  Bcggs,  of 
the  Rock  River  Conference ;  and  the  late  J.  H.  Dickens 
and  Rev.  W.  T.  Bennett,  of  the  Illinois  Conference. 
From  many  others  he  has  received  very  valuable  infor- 
mation ;  but  the  communications  of  these  brethren  have 
been  so  copious,  and  in  the  case  of  Brothers  Wood  and 
Dickens  so  frequent,  as  to  deserve  especial  mention. 

The  last  means  of  obtaining  information  to  be  referred 
to  is  the  interviewing  of  the  living;  and  this  the  writer 
has  done  as  far  as  his  duty  as  a  pastor  would  permit 
him.  This  is,  in  some  respects,  the  most  productive  field 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  Methodist  item-gatherer.  Many 
of  those  who  have  accumulated  large  stores  of  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  Methodist  history  have  never  been  ac- 
customed to  put  their  thoughts  on  paper— writing  is  an 
irksome  task  to  them — so  that  the  only  way  to  draw  from 
them  their  stores  of  knowledge  and  transmit  them  to 


24  PRELIMINARY  ESSA Y. 

future  generations  is  by  interviewing.  And  these  pio- 
neers, these  men  who  can  say  of  our  Illinois  Methodism, 
"  Omnia  quse  vidi,  et  magna  pars  quorum  fui,"  are  fast 
passing  away,  and  as  they  disappear  their  knowledge 
disappears  with  them.  The  writer  can  only  regret  that 
more  frequent  opportunities  of  drawing  from  this  source 
have  not  been  afforded  him.  And  he  would  suggest  to 
the  conferences  in  Illinois  that  no  better  investment 
could  be  made  than  the  employment  of  a  competent  per- 
son for  a  few  years  to  travel  over  the  State,  and  gather 
from  the  pioneers  who  are  so  rapidly  leaving  us  those 
items  in  regard  to  our  early  history  which  will  otherwise 
be  lost  to  the  Church  forever. 


PART  I. 

IN  THE  WESTERN  CONFERENCE. 

1793  to  1811. 


Part  I. 

IN  THE  WESTERN  CONFERENCE. 

1793  to  1811. 


I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

IN  most  of  the  Western  States  the  first  settlement 
of  the  country  and  the  introduction  of  Method- 
ism were  contemporaneous.  Scarcely  had  the  pio- 
neer erected  his  cabin,  before  the  itinerant  was  there  \ 
with  his  saddle-bags  containing  his  Bible,  hymn- 
book,  and  Discipline,  to  proclaim  to  him  and  his 
household  the  glad  tidings  of  a  free  salvation,  and 
to  gather  them  into  the  fold  of  Christ.  But  this 
was  not  the  case  in  Illinois.  The  State  had  been 
settled  more  than  a  century  before  the  first  Method- 
ist sermon  was  preached  in  it,  and  it  was  more  than 
thirty  years  after  that  before  a  Methodist  conference 
was  organized  in  its  territory. 

The  first  settlers  of  Illinois  were  French  Cana- 
dians, who,  under  the  leadership  of  LaSalle,  estab- 
lished themselves  first  at  Pcoria,  in  1680,  where  a 
fort  was  built,  and  in  1682  at  Cahokia,  Kaskaski,a, 
and  one  or  two  other  points  on  the  Mississippi. 
They  were  strict  Roman  Catholics,  bringing  with 


28  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

them  their  priests  and  all  the  appliances  for  their 
peculiar  worship.  The  towns  continued  for  more 
than  a  century  to  be  mere  trading-posts  and  mission 
stations.  It  was  only  in  their  immediate  neighbor- 
hood that  the  soil  was  cultivated ;  and  no  attempt 
was  made  to  extend  the  settlements  into  the  interior 
of  the  country.  About  thirty  years  after  the  set- 
tlements on  the  Mississippi  had  been  made  by  the 
French,  Fort  Massacre  was  built  by  them  on  the 
Ohio  River,  and  occupied,  as  was  their  custom,  both 
as  a  fortress  and  a  mission  station  for  the  conversion 
of  the  Indians. 

In  1763  the  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi  that 
had  been  claimed  by  the  French  came  into  posses- 
sion of  the  English ;  but  it  was  not  until  after  the 
War  of  the  Revolution  that  Americans  began  to 
settle  in  the  country ;  and  they  came  so  slowly 
that  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  there 
were  not  more  than  two  or  three  thousand  inhabit- 
ants; and  the  census  of  1810  reported  only  between 
twelve  and  thirteen  thousand  in  what  is  now  the 
fourth  State  in  the  Union. 

In  1809  the  country,  which,  after  its  transfer  to 
the  United  States,  had  formed  a  part,  first  of  the 
North-west  Territory,  and  then  of  the  Indiana  Ter- 
ritory, was  organized  as  the  Illinois  Territory,  with 
its  seat  of  government  at  Kaskaskia  ;  and  nine  years 
afterward  it  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State. 

The  exact  year  in  which  Methodism  was  intro- 
duced is  not  positively -known.  But  it  seems  prob- 
able that  the  first  Methodist  was  Captain  Joseph 
Ogle,  who  was  converted  through  the  instrumen- 


INTRODUCTORY.  29 

tality  of  James  Smith,  a  Separate  Baptist  preacher  of 
Kentucky,  who  visited  and  preached  in  Illinois  in 
1787,  and  who  was  undoubtedly  the  first  Protestant 
preacher  who  visited  the  Territory.  ' 

CAPTAIN  OGLE  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  born 
in  1741.  He  removed  from  the  south  branch  of  the 
Potomac  to  Wheeling  in  1769,  and  in  the  Summer 
of  1785  came  to  Illinois,  settling  first  in  the  Amer- 
ican Bottom,  in  the  present  county  of  Monroe,  and 
afterwards  removed  to  St.  Clair  County,  about  eight 
miles  north  of  Belleville,  where  he  died,  in  Febru- 
ary, 1821,  aged  eighty.  Having  seen  service  as  a 
soldier  during  his  residence  in  Virginia,  Mr.  Ogle 
was  selected  by  his  neighbors  as  their  captain  to 
lead  them  in  their  skirmishes  with  the  Indians.  He 
was  a  man  scrupulously  honest,  punctual  and  strict  in 
the  performance  of  all  his  engagements,  and  demand- 
ing from  others  the  same  promptness  that  he  observed 
himself.  With  uncommon  firmness  and  energy  he 
united  great  kindness  and  gentleness,  and  ruled  the 
people  by  a  happy  blending  of  fear  and  love.  He 
was  always  a  moral  man,  but  after  his  conversion 
he  became  a  devout  Christian.1 

The  first  Methodist  preacher  who  visited  the 
country  was  JOSEPH  LILLARD,  then  a  local  preacher 
of  Kentucky,  who,  during  his  visit,  gathered  the 
few  scattered  Methodists  into  a  class,  and  appointed 
Captain  Ogle  as  their  leader.  This  was  in  1793 ; 
and  this  was  the  first  Methodist  class  in  a  State  in 
which  the  membership  now  numbers  more  than  a 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand. 

1  Dr.  jTM.  Peek. 


30  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Mr.  Lillard  had  been  for  a  short  time  a  traveling 
preacher.  He  was  born  near  Harrodsburg,  Ken- 
tucky ;  was  received  on  trial  in  the  traveling  con- 
nection in  1789  (there  were  no  conferences  then),  and 
appointed  to  Limestone  Circuit  as  junior  preacher 
with  Samuel  Tucker.  The  next  year  he  traveled 
the  Salt  River  Circuit,  with  Wilson  Lee  as  his  col- 
league, and  at  the  close  of  the  year  was  discontinued. 
He  settled  in  Kentucky  near  his  birthplace,  and 
labored  as  a  local  preacher  until  his  death.  During 
his  visit  to  Illinois  he  became  temporarily  deranged, 
made  his  escape  from  his  friends,  and  took  the  trail 
to  Kaskaskia.  On  the  way  he  came  across  the  body 
of  a  man  named  Sipp,  whom  the  Indians  had  killed 
and  scalped.  The  sight  so  startled  him  that  his 
mind  was  restored,  and  he  returned  to  his  friends 
at  New  Design.2  He  was  a  very  ordinary  preacher, 
but  was  regarded  as  a  good  man  and  truly  pious, 
though  somewhat  eccentric.  He  was  liberal  in  the 
support  of  the  Church  and  her  institutions.  About 
nine  miles  from  Harrodsburg  is  a  large  brick 
church,  built  principally  by  him,  and  named  after 
him  Joseph's  Chapel.  At  his  house  the  itiner- 
ant was  always  welcome ;  and  though  of  such  mod- 
erate ability  as  a  preacher,  yet  by  his  deep  piety 
and  liberality  lie  was  very  useful.  He  died  in  a 
good  old  age  whilst  on  his  return  from  a  visit  to 
Missouri.3 

Four  or  five  years  after  Mr.  Lillard's  visit,  JOHN 
CLARKE,  who  had  been  a  traveling  preacher  in 
South  Carolina,  visited  the  settlements  in  Illinois, 

2  Dr.  J.  M.  Peck.  3  Dr.  Red  ford. 


INTR  OD  UC  TOR  Y.  31 

and  then  crossed  into  Missouri  in  1798,  being,  it  is 
believed,  the  first  Protestant  minister  who  preached 
the  Gospel  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Mr.  Clarke  was 
a  Scotchman,  born  near  Inverness,  November  29, 
1758.  His  mother  was  a  strict  Presbyterian,  and 
taught  him  from  childhood  to  fear  God.  He  re- 
ceived a  good  education.  When  about  twenty  he 
went  to  sea.  Whilst  in  the  British  navy  he  was 
taken  prisoner  and  sent  to  Havana,  where  he  re- 
mained in  prison  nineteen  months.  Being  ex- 
changed, he  some  time  afterward  left  the  sea,  and 
wandered  into  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  during 
the  Revolutionary  War.  In  1786  he  was  converted 
whilst  reading  Russell's  "  Discourse  on  the  Sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  united  with  the  Meth- 
odists. He  subsequently  visited  England,  and  had 
several  conversations  with  Mr.  Wesley,  and  often 
heard  him  preach.  In  1791,  two  years  after  his 
return,  he  was  received  on  trial  in  the  traveling 
connection.  He  traveled  for  five  years  in  South 
Carolina,  and  in  1796  withdrew  from  "our  order 
and  connection,"  and  removed  to  the  West,  to  be 
free  from  the  embarrassments  of  slavery.  He  was 
an  ardent  lover  of  liberty.  Injustice  in  every  form 
was  abhorrent  to  his  nature.  He  would  not  even 
receive  money  that  had  been  earned  by  the  labor 
of  slaves.  He  was  a  very  conscientious  and  a  very 
devout  man,  habitually  referring  every  thing  to  God, 
and  making  it  the  subject  of  prayer.  He  had  a  gift 
of  prayer  that  was  quite  uncommon,  seeming  to  hold 
converse  with  the  Lord  of  heaven  as  with  a  familiar 
friend.  He  was  accustomed  to  travel  his  circuits  on 


32  METHODI8M  IN  ILLINOIS. 

foot,  and,  when  asked  for  his  reason,  said,  "  The 
Savior  walked  on  his  preaching  excursions  in  Ju- 
dea."  After  his  withdrawal  from  the  Church,  he 
traveled  on  foot  to  Kentucky,  and  then,  meeting 
with  James  Gilham,  who  was  about  moving  to  Illi- 
nois, accompanied  him  and  his  family  in  their  boat. 
Mr.  Gilham  landed  at  Kaskaskia,  and  settled  on  the 
American  Bottom,  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  above 
the  town.  For  some  time  Mr.  Clarke  labored  as 
an  independent  Methodist  preacher,  but  about  1811 
he  joined  an  organization  of  Baptists,  calling  them- 
selves "  Friends  of  Humanity,"  formed  a  circuit  in 
Illinois  and  Missouri,  and  continued  traveling  it 
until  his  death  in  1833,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year. 
His  change  of  views  and  of  Church  relation  did 
not  alienate  him  from  his  former  associates.  He 
still  retained  the  confidence  and  love  of  the  Meth- 
odists, and  when  he  died  funeral  services  were  held 
for  him  all  over  the  country.4 

In  the  same  year  that  Mr.  Clarke  came,  HOSEA 
RIGG,  the  first  local  preacher  in  Illinois,  settled  in 
the  American  Bottom,  in  St.  Clair  County.  He  was 
a  native  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  born  in  1760. 
He  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 
When  twenty-two  years  old  he  was  converted,  and 
soon  afterwards  was  licensed  to  exhort.  Finding 
the  class,  of  which  Captain  Ogle  had  been  appointed 
leader  a  few  years  before,  disorganized,  he  gathered 
the  old  members  together — Joseph  Ogle  and  family, 
Peter  Casterline  and  family,  and  Wm.  Murray,  an 
Irishman — and  placed  them  again  under  Mr.  Ogle's 

*Dr.  Peck. 


INTRODUCTORY.  33 

charge.  Some  time  afterwards  he  organized  another 
class  in  what  is  now  Madison  County,  in  the  Goshen 
settlement,  between  Edwardsville  and  the  American 
Bottom.  In  appearance  Mr.  Rigg  was  tall  and  quite 
thin.  He  had  a  voice  of  wonderful  power.  He  was 
a  man  of  deep  and  active  piety,  abundant  in  labors, 
very  tenacious  for  Methodist  doctrine  and  usage, 
and  very  useful  in  the  Church.  "  He  was  a  good 
man,  a  faithful  preacher,  lived  a  Christian  life,  and 
died  a  Christian  death"  in  1841,  at  his  residence, 
near  Belleville,  at  the' age  of  eighty -one/' 

Another  of  the  early  settlers  who  aided  in  the 
establishment  of  Methodism  was  WILLIAM  SCOTT, 
who  was  born  in  Botetourt  County,  Virginia,  May 
17,  1745.  In  1797  he  moved  from  Kentucky  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  at  Turkey  Hill.  He  died  in 
1828. 

5Dr.  Peck. 


34  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


II. 

1803. 

CUMBERLAND  DISTRICT — Lewis  Garrett,  P.  E. 
Illinois — Benjamin  Young,  Missionary. 

IN  1803  Mr.  Rigg  visited  Kentucky  to  consult  the 
authorities  of  the  Church,  and  secure  from  the 
Western  Conference,  which  then  embraced  all  the 
country  west  of  the  Allcghany  Mountains,  a  regular 
preacher  for  Illinois.  As  a  result  of  his  visit,  at 
the  session  of  the  conference  held  at  Mt.  Gerizim, 
Kentucky,  the  Illinois  mission  was  formed,  and 
Benjamin  Young  appointed  its  first  missionary.  It 
was  connected  with  the  Cumberland  District,  of 
which  Lewis  Garrett  was  presiding  elder. 

BENJAMIN  YOUNG,  a  brother  of  Dr.  Jacob  Young, 
was  born  on  Back  Creek,  Berkeley  County,  Virginia, 
before  the  Revolutionary  War.  In  childhood  he 
moved  with  his  parents  to  Pennsylvania,  and  thence 
in  1796  to  Kentucky.  He  was  converted  through 
the  instrumentality  of  his  brother  Jacob;  united 
with  the  Church,  and  soon  after  commenced  preach- 
ing. Under  his  labors  a  gracious  revival  com- 
menced at  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  River,  that 
spread  up  and  down  the  Ohio  till  many  were  hap- 
pily converted  to  God.  He  was  received  on  trial 
in  the  Western  Conference,  held  at  Bethel  Academy, 


BENJAMIN  YOUNG.  35 

Kentucky,  in  1800,  and  was  appointed  to  Cumber- 
land Circuit.  The  next  year  he  was  on  the  Scioto 
and  Miami  Circuit;  the  next  year  on  Powell's 
Valley ;  and  in  1803  was  sent,  as  stated  above,  to 
the  Illinois  mission.  At  the  conference  of  1804,  at 
the  close  of  his  year  in  Illinois,  he  was  expelled 
from  the  Church. 

Dr.  Jacob  Young,  in  his  autobiography,  thus 
speaks  of  his  expulsion:  "My  brother  Benjamin, 
who  was  then  a  missionary  in  Illinois,  had  fallen 
into  some  improprieties,  though  nothing  worthy  of 
expulsion,  or  even  of  great  censure,  was  brought 
against  him.  His  convictions  being  deep  and  pierc- 
ing, he  deeply  repented  of  his  follies.  McKendree 
(who  presided  at  the  conference),  not  having  a  favor- 
able opinion  of  him,  took  a  very  strong  view  of  his 
imprudences,  and  thought  he  had  been  guilty  of  im- 
moral conduct.  He  was  accordingly  expelled  from 
the  Church,  as  I  thought  then  and  think  now,  most 
cruelly.  I  was  strengthened  in  my  opinion  the  next 
year.  Bishop  Asbury,  being  then  present,  gave  it 
as  his  opinion  that  Benjamin  had  been  wrongfully 
expelled,  and  made  an  attempt  to  have  the  case  re- 
considered, but  was  overruled  by  the  conference. 
Brother  McKendree  afterward  went  to  Illinois, 
where  my  brother  then  live*l  in  a  backslidden  state. 
He  was  reclaimed  under  McKendree's  preaching, 
who  took  him  into  the  Church,  and,  I  believe,  had 
his  parchments  restored."  His  end  was  very  sad. 
He  remained  in  Illinois  and  engaged  in  school- 
teaching.  But  he  gradually  became  deranged,  and 
avowed  infidel  principles.  He  died  in  1815  in  the 


36  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

old  fort  in  the  Goshen  settlement.1  A  letter  from 
him,  in  possession  of  Rev.  Dr.  De  Hass,  gives  us  some 
insight  into  his  labors  and  sufferings  during  his  year 
on  the  Illinois  mission.  It  is  dated  "  Indiana  Ter- 
ritory, Randolph  County,  June  1,  1804."  In  it  he 
says,  "  I  am  and  have  been  very  sickly  since  I  have 
been  here,  but  I  hope  I  'm  on  the  mend.  As  for 
the  state  of  religion,  it  is  bad.  I  have  formed  a 
circuit  and  five  classes  of  fifty  members.  In  some 
places  there  is  a  revival.  About  twenty  have  pro- 
fessed to  be  converted  since  I  came,  but  the  bulk 
of  the  people  are  given  up  to  wickedness  of  every 
kind.  Of  all  places,  it  is  the  worst  for  stealing, 
fighting,  and  lying.  My  soul,  come  not  into  their 
secret  places !  I  met  with  great  difficulties  in  com- 
ing to  this  country.  I  lost  my  horse  in  the  wilder- 
ness, fifty  miles  from  any  settlement,  and  had  to 
walk  in  and  hire  a  horse  to  go  and  find  mine.  The 
Kickapoo  Indians  had  stolen  him  and  Mr.  Reed's, 
who  was  with  me,  but  we  got  them  with  cost  and 
trouble.  When  I  got  to  Kaskaskia  I  preached 
there,  but  they  made  me  pay  two  dollars  for  the 
room,  and  twenty  shillings  for  two  days'  board.  I 
am  out  of  money  and  had  to  sell  my  books.  At 
last  the  people  began  to  help  me,  but  I  thank  God 
I  can  make  out,  though*  I  have  suffered  with  cold. 
Last  Winter  my  clothes  were  thin  and  worn  out, 
and  I  had  no  money  to  buy  new.  But  I  trust  I 
am  in  the  way  to  heaven,  and  I  know  my  heart  is 
engaged  in  the  work  of  God.  As  I  do  not  expect 
to  come  to  conference,  I  may  not  see  you  again  in 
1  Rev.  11.  Handle. 


THOMAS  HARRISON.  37 

this  life,  but  I  hope  to  meet  you  in  a  better  world." 
Mr.  Young,  despite  his  discouragements,  reported 
to  conference  a  membership  of  sixty-seven.  His 
mission  embraced  all  the  settlements  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Kaskaskia  River  to  Wood  River  in  Madison 
County.  One  of  his  preaching  places  was  the  house 
of  Esquire  Reynolds,  father  of  Governor  John  Rey- 
nolds, a  short  distance  east  of  Kaskaskia.  Another 
was  in  the  New  Design  settlement,  a  few  miles 
south  of  where  Waterloo  now  stands.  The  Turkey 
Hill  settlement,  in  St.  Clair  County,  three  miles 
south-east  of  Belleville,  which  had  been  established 
by  William  Scott  in  1787,  contained  a  number  of 
Methodists,  but  the  preaching  place  for  some  years 
was  at  Shiloh,  six  miles  north  of  it.  The  Goshen 
settlement,  a  few  miles  south  of  Edwardsville, 
founded  by  the  Gilhams  and  Whitesides  in  1802, 
was  most  likely  another  of  his  appointments;  and  it 
is  not  improbable  that  during  the  Summer  of  1804 
he  preached  in  the  Wood  River  settlement,  which 
was  formed  that  season  by  Cummins,  Waddle,  and 
others,  whose  names  were  afterwards  well  known  in 
Methodism.  Amongst  the  valuable  accessions  to 
the  mission  this  year  was  REV.  THOMAS  HARRISON, 
a  local  preacher,  who  settled  in  St.  Clair  County, 
and  whose  family  afterwards  became  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  in  Belleville. 

Mr.  Harrison  was  a  faithful  Christian,  careful  in 
his  dealings,  and  of  strict  integrity.  He  had  a  fine 
voice  and  was  an  excellent  singer.  He  was  a  fair 
preacher,  quite  animated  and  energetic.  He  settled 
first  a  few  miles  south  of  where  Belleville  now 


38  MET  HOD  KM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

stands,  and  established  a  cotton  gin.  He  after- 
wards moved  to  the  town,  and  died  there,  highly 
respected. 

Among  the  principal  members  of  the  Church 
this  year  was  JOHN  KIBKPATEICK,  who  had  re- 
moved from  Georgia  in  1802,  and  settled  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Edwardsville.  He  was  probably 
the  first  local  preacher  who  received  license  in  Illi- 
nois, but  whether  he  received  authority  to  preach 
this  year  or  later  is  not  known.  He  moved  to 
Springfield  at  an  early  day,  where  he  built  a  horse 
mill,  the  first  and  only  mill  there  at  that  time.  In 
1829  he  moved  to  Adams  County,  and  afterwards 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Ottumwa,  Iowa,  where  he 
died  in  1845.  He  was  an  active  and  earnest 
preacher,  and  was  occasionally  employed  as  a  sup- 
ply under  the  presiding  elder.  In  one  of  his 
charges  two  members  of  the  Church,  neighbors,  got 
into  a  quarrel,  and  preferred  charges  against  each 
other  and  demanded  a  trial.  A  committee  was  ac- 
cordingly called,  and  the  accused  and  accuser 
brought  face  to  face.  But  before  entering  upon 
the  trial,  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  asked  both  of  them  to 
go  alone  with  him  to  the  woods.  Then,  after  pray- 
ing earnestly  himself  for  them,  he  called  on  each 
of  them  in  succession  to  pray,  and  the  result  was 
they  were  then  and  there  reconciled,  and  returned 
to  the  house  in  love  and  friendship  with  each  other. 
About  the  time  he  moved  to  Adams  County  he  in- 
herited three  slaves  in  Georgia,  a  woman  and  two 
little  boys.  Bringing  them  to  Illinois,  he  gave 
them  all  their  freedom;  but  that  the  boys  might  be 


LEWIS  GAERETT.  39 

prepared  to  make  a  better  living  than  as  mere  day 
laborers,  he  apprenticed  them  to  a  man  in  Quincy 
to  learn  a  trade.  The  boys  were  afterwards  kid- 
naped, probably  run  into  a  slave  State,  and  it  is 
supposed  that  the  man  to  whom  they  were  bound 
was  not  altogether  clear  of  the  crime.  His  wife 
testified  that  she  had  seen  them  in  bed  the  night 
before,  and  that  was  the  last  she  or  Mr.  Kirkpatrick 
ever  saw  of  them.2 

LEWIS  GAERETT,  the  presiding  elder,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Pennsylvania,  born  in  1772,  but  removed 
with  his  parents,  whilst  he  was  a  child,  to  Virginia, 
and  afterwards  to  Kentucky.  In  1790  he  was  con- 
verted, and  four  years  afterwards  entered  the  trav- 
eling connection.  He  died  in  Mississippi  in  1837. 
Dr.  McFerrin  says  of  him,  "  He  was  an  extraordi- 
nary man  and  accomplished  much  for  the  Church. 
His  voice  was  full  and  mellow,  his  accent  and  artic- 
ulation superior,  his  manner  very  deliberate,  and  his 
sermons  at  times  overpowering."  The  connection 
of  Mr.  Garrett  with  the  work  in  Illinois  was  prob- 
ably only  nominal.  Peter  Cartwright  gives  it  as 
his  opinion  that  he  never  visited  the  distant  Illinois 
mission  during  the  two  years  that  he  was  its  pre- 
siding elder.  He  made  an  effort  to  reach  it  once, 
and  failed.  In  his  "  Recollections  of  the  West," 
Mr.  Garrett  says :  "  In  the  Spring  of  the  year  1804 
the  writer  of  these  sketches  and  that  laborious,  use- 
ful pioneer,  Jesse  Walker,  designed  visiting  Illinois, 
to  which  place  a  missionary  had  been  sent  the  pre- 
ceding Fall,  but  the  season  being  wet,  the  Ohio  had 

*Kev.  J.  8.  Kirkpatrick. 


40  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

overflowed  its  banks  and  obstructed  our  passage  so 
that  we  could  not  proceed."  Failing  in  this  they 
turned  up  the  Ohio,  swam  the  Tradewater,  and, 
searching  out  the  new  settlements,  formed  a  num- 
ber of  societies,  and  organized  them  into  a  circuit. 


WESTERN  CONFERENCE,  1804.  41 


CHAPTER  in. 

1804. 

CUMBERLAND  DISTRICT — Lewis  Garrett,  P.  E. 
Illinois— Joseph  Oglcsby. 

FROM  the  conference  of  1804,  which  was  also 
held  at  Mt.  Gerizim,  Kentucky,  and  which  Was 
under  the  presidency  of  William  McKendree,  Bishop 
Asbury  being  kept  from  it  by  sickness,  JOSEPH 
OGLESBY  was  appointed  to  Illinois.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  energy  and  power,  and  was  very  successful 
in  his  efforts  to  extend  vital  godliness  in  the  fields 
in  which  he  labored.  Of  the  time  or  place  of  his 
birth  we  are  not  informed.  He-  united  with  the 
Western  Conference  in  1803,  and,  after  traveling  in 
succession  the  Miami  Circuit  in  Ohio,  the  Illinois 
in  what  was  then  the  Indiana  Territory,  the  Little 
Kanawha  in  Virginia,  the  Shelby  in  Kentucky,  the 
Nashville  in  Tennessee,  and  the  Maramec  in  Mis- 
souri, six  charges  in  six  different  States  and  Terri- 
tories, he  located  in  1809.  In  1831  he  was  read- 
mitted in  the  Illinois  Conference,  but  the  next  year 
fell  into  the  newly  formed  Indiana  Conference,  trav- 
eling the  Lawrenceville  Circuit  two  years,  the  Lex- 
ington, one,  and  the  Bloomington  District,  two, 
when  he  again  located  in  1836.  Ten  years  after- 
wards he  was  readmitted  in  the  Indiana  Conference, 
4 


42  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

and  placed  on  the  superannuated  list,  in  which  he 
continued,  with  the  exception  of  one  year,  till  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  the  city  of  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  September  9,  1852.  His  memoir  in  the 
General  Minutes  says :  "  He  was  a  pioneer  Method- 
ist minister.  Nearly  fifty  years  ago  he  began  his 
arduous,  toils.  Ohio,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Illinois, 
and  Missouri  he  traversed,  preaching  everywhere 
'  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom,'  l  the  Word  of  this  sal- 
vation.' No  history  of  Methodism  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley  can  be  complete  which  does  not  speak  largely 
of  the  labors  of  Joseph  Oglesby.  Much  of  it  he 
was.  In  the  days  of  his  strength  he  stood  among 
the  strong  men  of  Methodism.  '  He  was  an  able 
minister  of  the  New  Testament.'  As  old  age 
pressed  upon  him  his  zeal  did  not  abate.  He  con- 
tinued in  his  superannuated  days  to  preach  Jesus 
almost  every  Sabbath,  and  often  through  the  week. 
The  last  Sabbath  before  his  short  and  fatal  illness  he 
preached  with  great  power  from  'O  that  thou  hadst 
hearkened  to  my  commandments;  then  had  thy 
peace  been  as  a  river,  and  thy  righteousness  as  the 
waves  of  the  sea.'  He  died  with  his  armor  on,  and 
fell  in  sight  of  glory.  Many  shall  rise  up  and  call 
him  blessed."  Rev.  S.  R.  Beggs,  in  his  Early  His- 
tory of  the  West  and  North-west,  describes  him  as 
being  fully  six  feet  in  height,  very  straight,  with 
dark  hair,  a  penetrating  eye  beneath  a  prominent 
forehead,  and  a  thin,  tapering  face.  His  manner 
was  dignified,  his  gestures  correct,  and  his  whole 
appearance  impressive.  At  a  camp-meeting  on  the 
Vincenncs  Circuit,  during  Mr.  Beggs's  administra- 


JOSEPH  OGLESBY.  43 

tion,  he  preached  from  the  text,  "  The  Master  is 
come  and  callcth  for  thee."  "  No  words  of  mine/' 
says  Mr.  Beggs,  "  could  do  the  sermon  justice.  It 
seemed  as  if  every  sentence  uttered  was  a  direct  in- 
spiration from  on  high.  It  was  the  eloquence  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  it  came  with  power."  Sometimes, 
however,  in  his  sermons  he  indulged  quite  freely  in 
speculation.1  In  a  discourse  preached  before  the 
Indiana  Conference  in  1836  he  attempted  to  define 
the  tendency  of  the  natural  capacities  of  man  for 
good  or  evil.  His  brethren,  less  tolerant  of  heter- 
odoxy than  Methodist  preachers  are  now,  decided 
that  he  was  unsound  in  the  faith,  that  his  doctrine 
was  Pelagianism,  and  after  a  vote  of  censure  by  the 
conference,  he  retired  from  the  itinerant  to  the  local 
ranks,  in  which  he  remained,  as  stated  above,  until 
1846.  But  his  errors  were  of  the  head,  not  of  the 
heart.  He  was  a  good  man,  and  God  greatly 
blessed  his  labors. 

Whilst  sustaining  a  local  relation  he  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  medicine,  in  which  he  became  quite 
successful.  His  zeal  and  industry  were  great,  both 
as  it  regarded  his  professional  engagements  in  the 
healing  art  and  his  duties  as  a  preacher,  being  at 
all  times  ready  to  do  good  to  the  bodies  and  the 
souls  of  men.2 

During  his  year  on  Illinois  Circuit  he  crossed 
the  Mississippi  and  spent  some  time  in  a  tour  of 
inspection  among  the  new  settlements  in  Missouri. 
He  was  probably  the  first  Methodist  itinerant  to 
visit  and  preach  ifi  the  country  west  of  the  Missis- 

^r.  Aaron  Wood.        2Rev.  J.  B.  Finley. 


44  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

sippi ;  for,  although  John  Clarke  had  preceded  him 
there,  it  was  first  whilst  he  was  a  local  preacher 
and  afterwards  a  Baptist. 

Under  Mr.  Oglesby's  labors  the  membership  in 
the  Illinois  Circuit  was  increased  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty. 


CHARLES  R.  MATH  EN  Y.  45 


iv. 

1805. 

CUMBERLAND  DISTRICT — William  Mclvendree,  P.  E. 
Illinois— Charles  R.  Matheny. 

IN  1805  CHARLES  E.  MATHENY  was  appointed  to 
the  Illinois  Circuit,  which  still  remained  in  the 
Cumberland  District,  of  which  William  McKendree 
was  presiding  elder.  Mr.  Matheny  had  just  been 
received  into  the  Western  Conference  at  its  session 
at  Griffiths,  Scott  County,  Kentucky.  Of  his  labors 
during  the  year  we  have  no  account.  At  the  close 
of  the  year  he  was  discontinued  at  his  own  request, 
and  settled  in  the  Ogle  settlement,  in  St.  Clair 
County.  In  1808  we  find  him  present  at  a  camp- 
meeting  held  by  Jesse  Walker.  He  moved  to  San- 
gamon  County  in  the  Spring  of  1821,  and  when 
the  county  was  organized  in  the  same  year  he  was 
elected  county  clerk,  and  filled  the  office  until  his 
death  in  1839.  His  house  was  for  some  time  the 
preaching-place  in  Springfield,  as  well  as  a  home 
for  the  preachers.  He  married  a  Miss  Ogle,  and 
was  the  father  of  a  large  and  highly  respectable 
family,  most  of  whom  became  leading  members  of 
the  Church.  During  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he 
was  an  invalid,  and  seldom  preached.  He  was  but 


46  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

a  moderate  preacher,  but  was  highly  esteemed  as  an 
honorable,  upright  Christian  gentleman. 

There  was  a  slight  decrease  in  the  membership 
this  year,  only  one  hundred  and  ten  being  reported 
to  conference.  But  the  year  was  signalized  by  the 
erection  of  the  first  Methodist  church  in  Illinois, 
the  Bethel  Church,  in  Goshen  settlement,  in  what 
was  afterwards  Madison  County,  and  where  a  good 
society  has  been  maintained  until  the  present  time. 
The  church  was  built  on  the  land  of  Thomas  Good, 
two  and  a  half  miles  south  of  Edwardsvillc.  A 
conference  was  held  in  it  in  1817,  and  the  old 
church,  with  the  neighboring  camp-ground,  was  the 
spiritual  birthplace  of  multitudes  of  souls. 

Of  the  presiding  elder,  WILLIAM  McKENDEEE, 
a  volume  might  be  written;  but  we  can  give  here 
only  a  brief  notice  of  him.  He  was  a  native  of 
Virginia,  born  in  1757.  His  early  education  was 
quite  limited ;  but  in  after  life,  by  diligent  study, 
he  accumulated  a  large  store  of  knowledge.  During 
the  War  of  the  Revolution  he  enlisted  as  a  private 
soldier,  but  was  soon  made  adjutant,  and  afterwards, 
for  his  superior  business  qualifications,  was  placed 
in  the  commissary  department.  He  was  a  man  of 
fine  appearance,  with  good  features,  and  possessed 
of  great  physical  strength.  When  thirty  years  old, 
under  the  preaching  of  John  Easter,  he  was  con- 
verted; and  the  next  year,  1788,  he  w-as  received  in 
the  traveling  connection.  After  eight  years  of  cir- 
cuit work  he  was  appointed  presiding  elder  in  Vir- 
ginia, serving  on  four  different  districts  in  four 
successive  years,  until,  in  1800,  he  was  removed  to 


WILLIAM  M'KENDREE.  47 

the  West,  in  which  he  continued  to  labor  as  presid- 
ing elder  until  his  election  to  the  episcopacy  in  1808. 
Bishop  Simpson  says  of  him :  "  He  was  a  man  of 
great  energy  and  genius,  and  was  deeply  pious,  and 
modest  almost  to  timidity.  His  mind  was  clear  and 
logical,  his  'knowledge  varied  and  extensive,  his 
imagination  lively  but  well  regulated,  and  his  elo- 
quence was  unusually  powerful.  He  was  careful  in 
the  administration  of  discipline,  and  introduced  sys- 
tem into  all  the  operations  of  the  Church.  His 
influence  was  patent  everywhere ;  but  especially  was 
he  regarded  as  the  father  of  Western  Methodism, 
to  which  he  had  given  years  of  earnest  labor,  and 
in  the  success  of  which  he  felt  a  deep  and  abiding 
interest.  He  died  March  5,  1835,  at  the  residence 
of  his  brother,  near  Nashville,  Tennessee.  One  of 
Ms  last  expressions  was,  ( All  is  well.' " 


48  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


v, 
1806. 

CUMBERLAND  DISTRICT— Wm.  McKendree,  P.  E. 
Illinois— Jesse  Walker. 

FROM  the  session  of  the  Western  Conference 
held  at  Ebenczer,  Nollichuckie,  Tennessee, 
JESSE  WALKER  was  sent  to  the  Illinois  Circuit. 
To  him  Methodism  in  Illinois  and  Missouri  is 
doubtless  indebted  more  than  to  any  other  single 
individual ;  for  throughout  a  large  portion  of  both 
States  he  was  literally  its  pioneer.  He  was  born  in 
Buckingham  County,  Virginia,  June  9,  1766.  His 
parents  were  not  religious,  but  moral,  teaching  him 
to  pray  and  attend  divine  worship,  and  abstain  from 
gross  sin.  He  had  but  few  educational  advantages 
in  his  youth,  twenty  days  covering  the  whole  of  his 
school  life.  When  a  child  of  nine  years  he  was 
awakened  under  the  sermon  of  a  Baptist  preacher, 
and  soon  afterwards  was  converted.  But  for  want 
of  religious  instruction  and  religions  society  he 
backslid,  and  became  very  wicked.  When  about 
twenty  he  was  powerfully  reclaimed,  and  in  July, 
1786,  he  united  with  the  Methodists.  He  was  im- 
mediately appointed  class-leader,  and  in  that  work 
became  so  useful  that  the  preachers  urged  him  to 
accompany  them  on  the  circuit.  For  some  years  he 


JESSE  WALKER.  49 

held  back ;  but  at  length,  whilst  living  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  the  command,  "Go 
ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel,"  came 
to  him  with  such  power  that  he  yielded,  and  in 
1802  united  with  the  Western  Conference  at  its  ses- 
sion at  Strothers,  Sumner  County,  Tennessee.  At 
the  time  he  entered  the  itinerancy  he  was  poor,  with 
but  little  education  and  with  a  wife  and  several 
children.  Of  moderate  preaching  ability,  lie  yet 
possessed  a  soul  burning  with  desire  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  people ;  and  though  unable  to  discuss 
the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  he  could  yet  tell  the 
story  of  tlio  cross  with  such  pathos  and  power  as  to 
melt  the  hardest  heart.  Governor  Reynolds  says 
of  him :  "  Mr.  Walker  was  a  man  of  great  energy 
and  courage,  very  warm  and  excitable,  and  produc- 
ing great  •excitement  in  his  congregations.  He  was 
a  short,  well-set  man,  walked  erect,  and  was  pos- 
sessed of  great  firmness,  energy,  and  perseverance. 
His  complexion  was  sallow,  his  eyes  blue,  small, 
and  piercing.  He  was  not  a  profound  scholar,  but 
a  student  of  the  Scriptures  and  human  nature."  His 
first  four  appointments,  which  were  in  Tennessee 
and  Kentucky,  were  Red  River,  Livingston,  Liv- 
ingston and  Hartford,  and  Hartford  alone. 

In  the  Spring  of  1806,  in  company  with  his  pre- 
siding elder,  William  McKendree,  he  paid  his  first 
visit  to  Illinois.  He  was  greatly  delighted  with  the 
country,  and  felt  that  here  God  had  a  great  work 
for  him  to  do.  He  returned  to  his  circuit,  preached 
in  it  until  conference,  and  then  received  his  appoint- 
ment to  the  Illinois  Circuit.  Reaching  home  about 


50  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

noon,  by  ten  o'clock  the  next  day  he  was  ready  to 
start  with  his  family,  a  wife  and  two  daughters,  for 
his  new  field  of  labor,  a  distance  of  at  least  two 
hundred  miles.  Their  only  mode  of  travel  was  on 
horseback.  After  a  tiresome  journey  through  the 
wilderness,  in  which  they  were  greatly  detained  by 
storms  and  high  waters,  and'  suffered  much  from 
cold  and  hunger,  they  at  length  reached  the  Turkey 
Hill  settlement,  in  St.  Clair  County,  a  few  miles 
from  which  he  located  his  family,  and  where  lie 
continued  to  reside  for  a  number  of  years.  His 
parsonage  was  an  old  log  cabin  belonging  to  a 
Brother  Scott.  It  had  a  plank  floor  and  a  stick 
chimney,  with  the  hearth  so  low  that  the  edge  of 
the  floor  made  seats  for  all  the  family  around  the 
fire.  As  soon  as  possible  he  entered  on  his  labors, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  souls  were  converted. 
On  New- Year's  eve  he  held  a  watch-night  meeting, 
probably  the  first  ever  held  in  Illinois,  and  in  con- 
nection with  the  meeting  he  held  also  the  first  love- 
feast. 

In  April,  1807,  he  held  the  first  camp-meeting 
ever  held  in'  the  State,  about  three  miles  south  of 
the  present  town  of  Edwardsville.  It  was  the  day 
of  small  things  in  numbers.  There  were  only  three 
preachers  present, — Jesse  AValker,  Charles  R.  Math- 
eny  (who  had  traveled  the  circuit  the  year  before), 
and  Hosea  Rigg.  But  the  meeting  was  a  powerful 
one,  and  many  present  were  affected  with  that 
strange  movement,  the  jerks.  During  the  Summer 
another  camp-meeting  was  held  on  the  circuit  at  a 
place  called  Three  Springs,  afterwards  known  as 


AN  INCIDENT.  51 

Shiloh.  This  was  in  connection  with* a  quarterly- 
meeting.  The  meeting  commenced  on  Friday  morn- 
ing, and  continued  until  the  following  Monday.  The 
presiding  elder,  William  McKendree,  was  present 
from  the  beginning  of  the  meeting.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  Abbot  Goddard  and  James  Gwin.  Some 
local  preachers  were  also  present.  Mr.- McKendree 
and  his  traveling  companions  had  just  visited  John 
Travis,  the  only  preacher  then  laboring  in  Missouri. 
After  attending  a  camp-meeting  on  his  work,  where 
their  labors  were  greatly  blessed,  they  came  to  Mr. 
Walker's  meeting,  during  which  several  interesting 
incidents  occurred.  The  following  is  related  by  Mr. 
Beggs : 

"  On  Friday  morning  the  meeting  commenced 
by  the  sounding  of  a  horn,  as  a  signal  to  rise;  then, 
at  the  second  sounding,  they  were  to  assemble  at 
the  altar  for  prayer  before  breakfast.  Having  as- 
sembled, a  hymn  was  first  lined,  and  then  sung." 

Whilst  singing,  they  suddenly  heard  the  sound 
of  voices  at  a  distance,  as  if  also  engaged  in  singing. 
It  was  the  elder,  who  rode  up  in  company  with  sev- 
eral preachers ;  and  the  singing  was  continued  amidst 
hearty  hand-shakings,  tears,  and  smiles,  and  shout- 
ings of  hosannas,  which  lasted  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes  before  the  preachers  could  get  off  their 
horses.  Mr.  Gwin  has  given  so  graphic  an  account 
of  the  meeting  that  we  can  not  do  better  than  quote 
his  language  : 

"  From  the  camp-meeting  we  returned,  crossed 
the  river  to  Judge  L.'s,  who  refreshed  us  and  sent 
forward  our  baggage  in  a  cart  to  Brother  Garrett's, 


52  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

where  our  next  meeting  was  to  be  held,  which  was 
called  the  Three  Springs.  We  arrived  on  Friday 
morning  on  the  camp-ground,  which  was  situated 
in  a  beautiful  grove  surrounded  by  a  prairie.  A 
considerable  congregation  had  collected,  for  the  news 
of  the  other  meeting  had  gone  abroad  and  produced 
much  excitement.  Some  were  in  favor  of  the  work 
and  others  were  opposed  to  it.  A  certain  major 
had  raised  a  company  of  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser 
sort,  to  drive  us  from  the  ground.  On  Saturday, 
while  I  was  preaching,  the  major  and  his  company 
rode  into  the  congregation  and  halted,  which  pro- 
duced considerable  confusion  and  alarm.  I  stopped 
preaching  for  a  moment  and  quite  calmly  invited 
them  to  be  off  with  themselves,  and  they  retired 
to  the  spring  for  a  fresh  drink  of  brandy.  The 
major  said  he  had  heard  of  these  Methodists  before; 
that  they  always  broke  up  the  peace  of  the  people 
wherever  they  went;  that  they  preached  against 
horse-racing,  card-playing,  and  every  other  kind 
of  amusement.  However,  they  used  no  violence 
against  us,  but  determined  to  camp  on  the  ground 
and  prevent  us  doing  harm.  But  at  three  o'clock, 
when  Brother  Goddard  and  I  were  singing  a  hymn, 
an  awful  sense  of  Divine  Power  fell  on  the  congre- 
gation, when  a  ,rman,  with  a  terrified  look,  ran  to 
me  and  said,  l  Are  you  the  man  that  keeps  the  roll  ?' 
I  asked,  <  What  roll  ?'  '  That  roll,'  he  replied,  <  that 
people  put  their  names  to  when  they  are  going  to 
heaven.'  I  supposed  he  meant  the  class-paper,  and 
sent  him  to  Brother  Walker.  Turning  to  Brother 
Walker,  he  said,  '  Put  my  name  down,  if  you  please/ 


CAMP-MEETING.  53 

and  then  fell  to  tfye  ground.  Others  started  to  run 
off,  and  fell ;  some  escaped.  We  were  busy  in  get- 
ting the  fallen  to  one  place,  which  we  effected  about 
sunset,  when  the  man  who  wished  his  name  on  the 
roll  arose  and  ran  off  like  a  wild  beast.  Looking 
around  upon  the  scene,  and  listening  to  the  sobs, 
groans,  and  cries  of  the  penitents,  reminded  me  of 
a  battle-field  after  a  heavy  battle.  All  night  the 
struggle  went  on.  Victory  was  on  the  Lord's  side; 
many  were  converted,  and  by  sunrise  next  morning 
there  was  the  shout  of  a  King  in  the  camp. 

"  It  was  Sabbath  morning,  and  I  thought  it  the 
most  beautiful  morning  I  had  ever  seen.  A  little 
after  sunrise,  the  man  that  had  run  off  came  back, 
wet  with  the  dews  of  the  night,  and  with  strong 
symptoms  of  derangement.  At  eleven  o'clock  Brother 
McKendree  administered  the  holy  sacrament;  and 
while  he  was  dwelling  upon  its  origin,  nature,  and 
design,  some  of  the  major's  company  were  affected, 
and  we  had  a  melting  time.  •  After  sacrament, 
Brother  McKendree  preached  to  a  large  congrega- 
tion, all  the  principal  men  of  the  country,  and  all 
in  reach,  who  could  get  there,  being  present.  His 
text  was,  (  Come,  let  us  reason  together ;'  and,  per- 
haps, no  man  ever  managed  the  subject  better  or 
with  more  effect.  His  reasoning  on  the  atonement, 
the  great  plan  of  salvation,  and  the  love  of  God  was 
so  clear  and  strong,  and  was  delivered  with  such 
pathos,  that  the  congregation  involuntarily  arose  to 
their  feet  and  pressed  toward  him  from  all  parts. 
While  he  was  preaching,  he  very  ingeniously  ad- 
verted to  the  conduct  of  the  major,  and  remarked : 


54  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

'  We  are  Americans,  and  some  <jf  us  have  fought 
for  our  liberty,  and  have  come  here  to  teach  men 
the  way  to  heaven.'  This  seemed  to  strike  the 
major,  and  he  afterwards  became  friendly,  and  has 
remained  so  ever  since. 

"  This  was  a  great  day.  The  work  became  gen- 
eral, the  place  was  awful,  and  many  souls  were 
born  of  God.  Among  the  rest  was  our  wild  man. 
His  history  was  a  peculiar  one.  He  lived  in  the 
American  Bottom,  had  a  fine  estate,  and  was  a  pro- 
fessed deist.  He  told  us  that,  a  few  nights  before 
we  passed  his  house,  he  dreamed  that  the  day  of 
judgment  was  at  hand,  and  that  three  men  had 
come  from  the. East  to  warn  the  people  to  prepare 
for  it;  that  so  soon  as  he  saw  us  he  became  alarmed, 
believing  we  were  those  men;  and,  having  ascer- 
tained where  we  were  from,  who  we  were,  and  where 
going,  he  came  to  the  camp-meeting.  He  became 
a  reformed  and  good  man. 

"  We  went  to  Goshcn  camp-meeting.  Here  we 
had  comfortable  camps  and  an  arbor  large  enough 
to  shelter  seven  hundred  persons,  in  the  form  of  an 
L.  The  stand  was  in  an  unsheltered  spot  between 
the  two  squares.  We  had,  also,  a  small,  log  meet- 
ing-house, in  which  our  first  quarterly-meeting  was 
held.  Preaching  began  on  Friday,  and  was  kept 
up  regularly.  The  people  having  heard  of  the  re- 
vival at  the  other  camp-meetings,  flocked  out  in 
great  numbers,  many  to  see  the  strange  work.  Some 
brought  brandy  and  cards  for  their  amusement  dur- 
ing the  meeting.  On  Friday  and  Saturday,  the 
Word  preached  seemed  to  do  little  good.  An  aw- 


INDIA  N  CON  VER  TED.  55 

ful  cloud  seemed  to  rest  upon  us.  In  passing  the 
preachers'  tent  I  saw  Brother  McKendree  alone, 
bathed  in  tears.  I  stepped  in,  and  he  said  to  me, 
'  Brother,  we  have  been  preaching  for  ourselves,  and 
not  for  the  Lord.  Go,  brother,  and  preach  Christ 
crucified  to  the  people  !'  My  heart  was  deeply  af- 
fected. We  fell  upon  our  knees,  and  implored  the 
help  of  God.  This  was  about  sunset.  I  preached 
at  candle-lighting.  My  text  was,  '  Behold  the  man !' 
It  commenced  raining  shortly  after  I  began  to 
preach,  and  as  the  audience  was  under  shelter,  I  did 
not  stop,  although  exposed  to  the  rain.  My  heart 
was  fired  and  my  tongue  loosened  in  an  unusual 
manner.  For  a  few  moments  nothing  but  sobs  and 
sighs  were  heard  among  the  people;  at  length  the 
whole  congregation  seemed  suddenly  smitten  with 
the  power  of  God.  Many  fell  as  in  battle,  and  were 
presently  raised  to  tell  of  pardoning  mercy  and  en- 
courage others  to  seek  the  Lord. 

"  \Ve  continued  all  night  in  the  work.  On  the 
next  day,  Sunday,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
the  Lord's-supper  was  administered. 

"  It  was  a  memorable  day,  and  eternity  only  will 
reveal  the  result.  One  conversion  deserves  partic- 
ular notice.  An  Indian,  of  the  Chickamauga  tribe, 
on  a  hunting-trip,  fell  in  with  us  at  our  camp- 
meeting.  I  will  give  his  own  account  of  his  con- 
version. He  said  :  (  When  I  saw  so  many  people, 
I  thought  I  would  stop  and  get  some  whisky;  and 
while  you  were  talking  in  the  rain,  I  was  standing 
by  a  sapling,  and  there  came  on  me  a  mighty  weight, 
too  heavy  for  me  to  stand  under.  I  caught  the 


56  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

sapling,  but  my  hands  would  not  hold  it,  and  I  fell 
to  the  ground.  While  there,  blackness  came  over 
me  :  I  tried  to  get  away,  but  could  not  until  about 
daylight.  I  thought  surely  I  had  been  drunk ;  but 
then  I  remembered  I  had  nothing  to  drink.  Al- 
though I  concluded  not  to  go  back,  yet,  when  they 
began  to  sing,  something  drew  me  back,  and  before 
I  knew  it  I  was  among  them  again,  and  then  the 
same  weight  came  on  me,  and  the  darkness.  I  fell 
to  the  ground,  and  thought  I  was  about  to  die.  I 
tried  to  get  up,  but  was  too  weak.  At  last  a  white 
man  came  and  talked  over  me,  and  while  he  was 
talking  I  got  lighter  and  lighter,  and  every  thing 
looked  whiter  than  the  sun  could  make  it  look. 
The  heavy  load  and  the  blackness  all  left  me.  I 
felt  glad  in  my  heart,  and  jumped  up  and  felt  light.' 
Arrangements  were  made  to  send  this  Indian  to 
school.  He  soon  learned  to  read  and  write,  and  at 
the  last  account  of  him  he  was  trying  to  walk  in  the 
light.  On  Monday,  the  last  day  of  the  meeting,  one 
hundred  joined  the  Church." 

The  conference  year  closed  successfully,  Mr. 
Walker  reporting  a  membership  of  two  hundred 
and  eighteen  white,  and  two  colored,  this  being  the 
first  report  of  colored  members  in  Illinois.  The 
Church  has  learned  since  that  day  that  in  Christ 
white  and  black  are  no  more  important  distinctions 
than  male  and  female. 

This  year  was  signalized  also  by  the  erection  of 
the  second  church,  in  Illinois  at  Shiloh,  in  St.  Clair 
County.  It  continued  to  be  a  place  of  worship 
until  1819,  when  a  new  church  was  built  of  brick. 


FIRST  SERMON  IN  CHICAGO.  57 

In  1875  a  third  church  was  built  on  the  same  spot, 
costing  $6,700. 

Mr.  Walker's  subsequent  appointments  were  as 
follows:  1807,  Missouri;  1808,  Illinois;  1809-10, 
Cape  Girardeau,  and  1811,  Illinois  Circuit  for  the 
third  time.  In  1812,  falling  into  the  Tennessee 
Conference,  he  was  made  presiding  elder  of  the 
Illinois  District,  which  he  traveled  the  full  term 
of  four  years.  In  1816,  at  the  formation  of  the 
Missouri  Conference,  he  was  placed  on  Missouri 
District,  on  which  he  remained  three  years.  In 
1819-20,  he  simply  appears  in  the  General  Minutes 
as  missionary.  In  1821  his  appointment  was  St. 
Louis.  In  1822  he  was  conference  missionary  in 
Missouri,  and  in  1823  he  was  appointed  as  "  mis- 
sionary to  the  Missouri  Conference,  whose  attention 
is  particularly  directed  to  the  Indians  in  the  bounds 
of  said  conference."  In  1824  he  was  sent  as  "  mis- 
sionary to  the  settlements  between  the  Illinois  and 
the  Mississippi  Rivers,  and  to  the  Indians  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fort  Clark."  In  the  Spring  of  1825  he 
accompanied  Mr.  John  Hamlin,  whose  wife  was  a 
member  of  the  Church,  in  his  flat-boat,  well-manned, 
to  Chicago.  It  was  a  tedious  trip,  but  he  failed  not 
to  have  family  prayers  on  the  boat  every  morning. 
It  is  probable  that  while  in  Chicago  he  preached 
the  first  sermon  ever  preached  there.1  For  the  three 
following  years  he  was  missionary  to  the  Pottawat- 
tomie  Indians.  In  1828,  his  appointment  was  Peo- 
ria;  1829,  Fox  River;  1830,  Chicago  Mission,  and 
1831,  DCS  Plaines.  In  1832  he  was  appointed  pre- 

» Rev.  8.  R.  Bcg-s. 


58  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

siding  elder  of  Chicago  District,  but  traveled  it  only 
one  year.  The  next  year  he  was  again  sent  to  Chi- 
cago mission,  and  with  this  appointment  his  labors 
as  an  effective  preacher  closed.  At  the  conference 
of  1834  he  was  placed  on  the  superannuated  list, 
on  which  he  remained  a  little  over  a  year  until  his 
death,  October  15,  1835. 

Mr.  Walker  "  was  five  feet,  seven  inches  high, 
of  slender,  but  vigorous  frame,  sallow  complexion, 
light  hair,  prominent  cheeks,  small  blue  eyes,  a  gen- 
erous and  cheerful  expression,  and  dressed  always 
in  drab-colored  clothes  of  the  plainest  Quaker 
fashion,  with  a  light-colored  beaver  hat,  nearly  as 
large  as  a  lady's  parasol.  He  had  extraordinary 
aptness  to  win  the  confidence  and  sympathy  of  back- 
woodsmen ;  his  friendships  were  most  hearty,  his 
courage  equal  to  any  test,  his  piety  thorough,  his 
talents  as  a  preacher  moderate."2 

His  dress,  however,  was  not  always  such  as  Dr. 
Stevens  describes  above.  "I  think,"  says  Cart- 
wright,  "it  was  in  the  Fall  of  1819  our  beloved 
old  Brother  Walker,  who  had  traveled  all  his  life, 
or  nearly  so,  came  over  to  our  Tennessee  Confer- 
ence, which  sat  at  Nashville,  to  sec  us ;  but,  O,  how 
weather-beaten  and  war-worn  was  he;  almost,  if 
not  altogether,  without  decent  apparel  to  appear 
among  us.  We  soon  made  a  collection,  and  had 
him  a  decent  suit  of  clothes  to  put  on;  and  never 
shall  I  forget  the  blushing  modesty  and  thankful- 
ness with  which  he  accepted  that  suit." 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  traits  in  the  char- 

2  Dr.  A.  Stevens. 


ST.  LOUIS.  59 

acter  of  Mr.  Walker  was  his  strong  will.  It  was 
this,  combined  with  his  steadfast  faith  in  God  and 
his  earnest  love  for  souls,  that  inspired  him  with  an 
energy  that  carried  him  through  difficulties  which 
to  most  men  would  have  appeared  insuperable,  and 
that  induced  him  to  persevere  when  most  others 
would  have  acknowledged  defeat.  His  securing  a 
foothold  for  Methodism  in  St.  Louis  in  the  face  of 
the  greatest  obstacles  is  only  an  instance  of  what 
he  accomplished  by  his  unconquerable  determina- 
tion. Says  Mr.  Witten,  "Soon  after  the  first  ses- 
sion of  the  conference  that  was  held  in  McKendree 
Chapel  in  1819  Jesse  Walker  determined  to  plant 
Methodism  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  He  engaged 
two  young  ministers  to  assist  him  in  his  apostolic 
work.  When  they  reached  the  city  the  Legislature 
was  in  session,  and  every  public  house  was  crowded 
with  guests.  Literally,  there  was  no  room  for  them 
in  the  inn.  When  it  became  known  who  they  were, 
and  what  their  visit  to  St.  Louis  meant,  they  became 
the  laughing-stock  of  all  who  saw  them.  They  en- 
dured insult  and  scorn  in  various  ways,  and  at  last 
concluded  to  leave  the  place  in  disgust ;  and  accord- 
ingly mounted  their  horses  and  rode  into  the  public 
square,  where  they  held  a  consultation.  The  young 
ministers  resolved  to  leave,  and  thus  the  apostolic 
Walker  was  forsaken.  The  outlook  was  so  poor  that 
he  concluded  to  go  to  Mississippi,  and  actually  started 
and  went  eighteen  miles;  but  his  mortification  over 
his  repulse  in  St.  Louis  was  so  great  that  he  resolved 
to  go  back  and  try  it  again,  saying,  '  Was  I  ever 
defeated  in  this  blessed  work?  Never.  Did  any 


60  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

one  ever  trust  God  and  get  confounded  ?  No.  Then 
by  the  grace  of  God  I  '11  go  back  and  take  St.  Louis.' 
With  some  difficulty  he  found  entertainment,  but 
at  a  high  price.  He  obtained  permission  to  preach 
in  a  place  occupied  occasionally  by  the  Baptists. 
At  his  first  meeting  but  few  came  out,  the  second 
was  better  attended  and  some  interest  was  mani- 
fested, and  then  the  place  was  closed  against  him. 
He  then  rented  a  room  at  ten  dollars  a  month,  and 
held  divine  service  twice  every  Sabbath,  teaching 
five  days  in  the  week  gratuitously.  He  now  began 
to  take  steps  for  the  building  of  a  church.  Help 
from  unexpected  sources  was  found,  and  a  plain 
house  was  erected  and  a  membership  was  reported 
at  the  end  of  the  year  of  seventy-five."  But  Mr. 
Walker  did  not  confine  his  labors  to  St.  Louis.  No 
"  pent-up  Utica "  could  confine  his  powers.  The 
pioneer  spirit  by  which  he  was  influenced  led  him  to 
enter  into  every  open  door;  and,  during  the  years  in 
which  St.  Louis  was  his  head-quarters,  he  kept  up 
an  appointment  at  Alton,  thirty  miles  distant,  preach- 
ing regularly  once  a  month  in  the  house  of  Nathaniel 
Pinckard. 

Mr.  Scripps  gives  a  striking  account  of  his  la- 
bors in  Missouri  at  an  earlier  period.  In  1809-10 
he  was  on  the  Cape  Girardeau  Circuit.  Indeed,  he 
formed  the  circuit.  Joseph  Oglesby  had  traveled 
the  Maramcc  Circuit  the  year  before,  and  had  re- 
connoitered  the  country  and  preached  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. And  Samuel  Parker,  the  presiding  elder, 
had  preached  the  first  sermon  in  the  town.  But 
"  these  preliminary  efforts  of  Oglesby  and  Parker 


CAPE  GIRARDEAU.  61 

were  only  the  harbingers  of  Walker's  advent  as 
preacher  in  charge  of  the  Cape  Girardeau  Circuit. 
Bringing  his  deeply  interesting  family  of  wife, 
Sukey,  and  two  daughters,  Polly  and  Jenny,  with 
him,  he  sat  down  with  an  unconquerable  determi- 
nation to  make  Methodists  out  of  the  most  inauspi- 
cious, ungainly  materials  for  such  an  operation 
imaginable,  the  most  knotted,  gnarled,  twisted,  and 
jagged  specimens  of  the  genus  homo  conceivable; 
the  denizens  of  a  region  over  which  the  sanctity  of 
the  Sabbath  had  not  as  yet  cast  a  shred  of  its  sacred 
mantle,  and  whose  boast  was  that  Sunday  was  im- 
peded by  the  Mississippi,  and  could  not  get  across 
the  river  to  them.  Yet  among  such  he  sat  down 
to  thunder  the  denunciations  of  the  law,  or  herald 
the  invitations  of  the  Gospel,  casting  his  unreserved 
confidence  for  a  support  amongst  them  on  Him  in 
whose  cause  he  labored,  who  provideth  for  the 
young  ravens  when  they  cry,  and  without  whom 
not  a  sparrow  fallcth  to  the  ground.  Indeed,  he 
could  depend  upon  no  other,  for  his  charge  were 
pioneers,  recent  settlers,  struggling  for  a  hand  to 
mouth  livelihood  themselves,  and,  if  willing,  too 
poor,  and  himself  as  poor  in  this  world's  goods  as 
they  were,  if  not  more  so."  When  he  was  on  the 
Cape  Girardeau  Circuit  he  held  the  first  camp- 
meeting  ever  held  in  Missouri.  To  give  notice  of 
it,  he,  with  John  Scripps,  then  a  young  man,  crossed 
the  swamp  to  New  Madrid,  and  there  he  offered  the 
first  prayer  ever  offered  at  a  family  altar  in  the  place. 
There  were  five  camps  on  the  ground.  The  audience 
never  exceeded  two  or  three  hundred.  There  was 


62  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

good  order  and  strict  attention.  Some  had  the  jerks. 
There  were  many  convictions,  a  few  conversions, 
and  some  accessions  to  the  Church.  At  the  sacra- 
ment there  were  eleven  communicants.  The  wine 
was  squeezed  from  wild  grapes.  The  communion- 
table was  a  puncheon,  split  from  a  log  and  smoothed 
a  little  on  the  upper  side,  laid  on  crosjs-ties  on  four 
forks  stuck  in  the  ground,  and  covered  with  a  sheet, 
for  there  were  no  table-cloths  then.3 

Mr.  Walker  could  not  confine  himself  within  the 
limits  of  any  particular  field.  Like  Mr.  Wesley's, 
his  motto  was,  "  The  world  is  my  parish,"  and  wher- 
ever he  heard  of  those  who  needed  the  Gospel,  he 
felt  that  it  was  his  mission  to  bear  it  to  them.  To 
hundreds  of  the  early  settlers  he  was  the  first  to 
carry  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy,  and  that,  too,  not 
un frequently  before  they  had  erected  their  cabins. 
When  John  Sinclair  was  appointed  to  Chicago  Dis- 
trict, he  soon  found  that,  "  wherever  he  had  been, 
Walker  had  been  there  before  him,  and,  being  am- 
bitious to  preach  Christ  first  to  some  of  the  new- 
comers, and  hearing  of  a  family  that  had  just  set- 
tled at  Root  River,  now  Racine,  he  made  all  haste 
to  bear  them  the  offer  of  eternal  life.  Coming  by 
the  way  of  Chicago,  he  met  Brother  Walker.  In- 
quiring after  his  health,  he  was  told  that  he  (Walker) 
was  well,  but  very  tired,  as  he  had  just  been  to  look 
after  a  family  recently  settled  at  Root  River.  In 
despair,  Sinclair  gave  up  the  hope  of  the  honor  he 
had  counted  upon  as  unattainable."4  Indeed,  as 
Dr.  A.  L.  P.  Green  says,  Jesse  Walker  "  was  to  the 

3  Rev.  John  Scripps.        4Rev.  S.  R.  Beggs. 


PIONEERING.  63 

Church  what  Daniel  Boonc  was  to  the  early  settlers — 
always  first,  always  ahead  of  every  body  else,  pre- 
ceding all  others  long  enough  to  be  the  pilot  of  the 
new-comer.  His  natural  vigor  was  almost  super- 
human. He  did  not  seem  to  require  food  and 
rest  as  other  men;  no  day's  journey  was  long 
enough  to  tire  him,  no  fare  too  poor  for  him  to  live 
upon.  To  him,  in  traveling,  roads  and  paths  were 
useless  things;  he  blazed  out  his  own  course.  No 
way  was  too  bad  for  him  to  travel ;  if  his  horse 
could  not  carry  him,  he  led  him;  and  where  his 
horse  could  not  follow,  he  would  leave  him,  and 
take  it  on  foot ;  and  if  night  and  a  cabin  did  not 
come  together,  he  would  pass  the  night  alone  in  the 
wilderness,  which  with  him  was  no  uncommon  oc- 
currence. Looking  up  the  pioneer  settler  was  his 
chief  delight,  and  he  found  his  Avay  through  hill 
and  brake  as  by  instinct.  He  was  never  lost ;  and, 
as  Bishop  McKendree  once  said  of  him,  in  address- 
ing an  annual  conference,  he  never  complained,  and 
as  the  Church  moved  west  and  north  it  seemed  to 
bear  Walker  before  it.  Every  time  you  would  hear 
from  him  he  wras  still  .further  on;  and  when  the 
settlements  of  the  white  man  seemed  to  take  shape 
and  form,  he  was  next  heard  of  among  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  North-west." 

When  placed  on  the  superannuated  list  he  settled 
at  the  Desplaines  River,  twelve  miles  west  of  Chi- 
cago, and  kept  a  kind  of  tavern  or  stopping-place 
for  travelers.  His  step-daughter,  Mrs.  J.  R.  Gorin, 
of  Decatur,  says  that  he  never  omitted  family 
prayer,  morning  and  night,  no  matter  who  might 


64  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

be  stopping  with  him.  He  was  greatly  beloved  by 
the  Indians,  and  often  gave  them  the  last  morsel 
of  food  in  the  house.  He  was  never  known  to  be 
angry  or  to  speak  an  impatient  word.  The  cause 
of  his  death  was  a  severe  cold  he  took  on  his  way 
to  camp-meeting.  In  crossing  Root  River  he  found 
the  water  deeper  than  he  had  calculated  on.  He 
got  very  wet,  took  cold,  and  died  in  about  six 
weeks,  at  the  very  time  when  his  conference  was  in 
session.  "  His  last  moments  were  such  as  might  be 
expected  from  his  long  and  laborious  life  in  the  way 
of  doing  good.  To  a  ministerial  brother,  who  visited 
him  shortly  before  his  demise,  he  said  that  God  had 
been  with  him  from  the  time  of  his  conversion,  and 
was  still  with  him.  His  last  moments  were  tran- 
quil, and  he  died  in  full  and  confident  hope  of  a 
blessed  immortality."5 

It  is  believed  that  at  one  of  Mr.  AValker's  camp- 
meetings  this  year  ENOCH  MOORE  was  converted. 
He  was  the  first  American  male  child  born  in  Illi- 
nois, having  first  seen  the  light  in  a  block-house  at 
Bellefontaine,  Monroe  County,  Illinois,  'February 
17,  1783.  "At  a  very  youthful  age  he  developed 
a  thirst  for  knowledge  and  a  great  avidity  for  study. 
He  eagerly  sought  after  all  kinds  of  books  and  lit- 
erature of  a  practical  and  useful  character,  and, 
possessing  a  mathematical  mind  of  high  order,  he, 
when  comparatively  young,  became  one  of  the  most 
competent  surveyors  and  civil  engineers  of  his  days, 
and  much  of  the  government  surveying  of  that 
time  was  done  under  his  immediate  direction  and 

5  General  Minutes. 


ENOCH  MOORE.  65 


Whiteside,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  but  who  had 
moved  to  Illinois  in  1793.  His  wife  was  converted 
at  the  same  camp-meeting  as  he.  He  was  not  at 
first  satisfied  with  his  conversion ;  but  shortly  after- 
wards, at  a  meeting  held  at  a  Brother  Mace's,  he 
was  so  powerfully  blessed  as  to  remain  unconscious 
for  a  time.  Soon  after  his  conversion  he  was 
licensed  to  preach,  but  remained  in  the  local  ranks 
until  his  death.  He  labored  quite  extensively  as  a 
local  preacher,  and  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  best 
in  the  region  in  which  he  lived.  Though  his  house 
was  not  a  preaching-place,  yet  it  was  a  place  to 
which  the  preachers  delighted  to  resort,  where  they 
always  met  a  cordial  welcome,  and  where  they  had 
access  to  one  of  the  best  libraries  in  the  country  at 
that  time.  Though  not  an  active  politician,  he  was 
well  versed  in  political  science,  and  much  of  his  life 
was  in  office.  He  was  a  member  of  the  convention 
that  formed  the  first  constitution  of  Illinois.  He 
was  also  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  For  ten  or 
twelve  years  he  was  clerk  of  the  circuit  court  of 
his  county,  and  for  about  twenty  years  probate 
judge.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  personal  appearance, 
about  six  feet  high  and  very  straight.  He  had  ten 
children,  most  of  whom  became  active  members  of 
the  Church.  He  died  in  1848. 


6  Captain  J.  M.  Moore. 


METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


vi. 

1807. 

CUMBERLAND  DISTRICT — James  Ward,  P.  E. 
Illinois —John  Clingan. 

FROM  the  session  of  the  Western  Conference  of 
1807,  which  was  held  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  John 
Clingan  was  appointed  to  the  Illinois  Circuit,  with 
James  Ward  as  presiding  elder. 

Of  JOHN  CLINGAN  we  have  no  other  account 
than  that  furnished  by  his  appointments  in  the  Gen- 
eral Minutes.  He  was  admitted  on  trial  in  the  Bal- 
timore Conference,  but  received  his  appointment  to 
Guyandotte  in  the  Western  Conference.  In  1807 
he  was  appointed  to  Illinois,  the  next  year  to  Lick- 
ing, the  next  to  Letart  Falls,  and  in  1810  to  Mad 
River.  The  next  year  his  name  does  not  appear  in 
the  Minutes.  In  1812  he  stands  connected  with  the 
Ohio  Conference  as  appointed  to  Zanesville,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  year  is  reported  as  located.  Of  his 
labors  in  Illinois  we  have  no  account.  It  is  prob- 
able that  he  did  not  attend  conference  at  the  close 
of  the  year,  as  the  report  of  members  is  the  same 
as  that  made  by  Mr.  Walker  the  year  before. 

JAMES  WARD,  the  presiding  elder,  was  for  more 
than  half  a  century  one  of  the  most  devoted  and 
successful  ministers  in  the  Church.  Born  in  Maly- 


JAMES  WARD.  67 

land  in  1771,  and  converted  in  his  seventeenth  year, 
in  1792  he  united  with  the  Baltimore  Conference. 
For  eleven  years  he  traveled  circuits  in  that  con- 
ference, chiefly  in  the  valley  and  mountainous  re- 
gions of  Virginia ;  then  for  four  years  he  was  pre- 
siding elder  of  the  Greenbrier  District.  In  the 
Spring  of  1807  he  was  transferred  to  the  Western 
Conference,  and  appointed  to  Lexington.  In  the 
Minutes  of  the  Western  Conference  for  that  year  he 
appears  to  have  been  assigned  to  the  Cumberland 
District  as  presiding  elder,  though  it  is  probable  that 
he  did  not  actually  receive  the  appointment  until  the 
election  of  Mr.  McKendree  to  the  episcopacy  in  the 
Spring  of  1808.  For  the  next  two  years  he  was  on 
the  Kentucky  District;  in  1811  he  was  assigned  to 
Shelby  Circuit ;  then  for  two  years  to  the  Salt  River 
District ;  and  in  1813  he  located,  and  continued  in 
that  relation  for  fifteen  years.  In  1828  he  was  read- 
mitted in  the  Kentucky  Conference,  continuing  most 
of  the  time  in  the  active  work  until  1840,  when  he 
was  superannuated.  On  the  division  of  the  Church 
in  1845  he  refused  to  go  south  with  his  conference, 
and  in  1848,  "without  controversy  and  by  a  unan- 
imous vote,"  T  he  was  received  as  a  member  of  the 
Baltimore  Conference,  and  placed  on  the  list  of  su- 
perannuated members,  in  which  he  remained  until 
his  death  in  1855,  in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his 
age  and  the  sixty-third  of  his  ministry. 

Mr.  Ward  was  a  man  of  great  firmness  and  de- 
cision, carrying  out  his  convictions  of  right  and  duty 
regardless  of  consequences  to  himself.  Brought  up 

1  General  Minutes. 


68  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

in  the  Church  of  England,  of  which  his  parents  were 
members,  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  his  friends, 
he  united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  whose  ministers  he 
had  been  led  to  the  Savior.  Then,  impressed  with 
the  conviction  that  it  was  his  duty  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  despite  his  domes- 
tic claims  (for  his  father  had  died  and  left  to  him 
the  care  of  the  family),  and  the  strenuous  opposi- 
tion of  his  mother,  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ, 
he  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  the  itinerant  work. 
So,  fifty-three  years  afterwards,  when  he  was  called 
on  to  choose  between  the  pro-slavery  ism  of  the  newly 
formed  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South  and  the 
mother  Church,  with  her  anti-slavery  principles,  he 
unhesitatingly  chose  the  latter,  though  his  choice 
deprived  him  for  a  time  of  a  conference  home  with 
its  privileges  and  separated  him  from  those  with 
whom  for  more  than  forty  years  he  had  been  in 
close  and  loving  fellowTship.  He  was  remarkable, 
too,  for  his  untiring  zeal  and  energy.  During  the 
year  in  which  he  presided  over  the  work  in  Illi- 
nois, "  he  astonished  the  people  by  his  zeal."  Dur- 
ing the  years  of  his  location,  his  son  tells  us  that, 
"working  diligently  with  his  hands,  he  embraced 
every  opportunity  of  preaching.  He  spent  no  idle 
Sabbaths  when  it  was  possible  for  him  to  get  to 
Church.  He  kept  up  regular  appointments,  and 
was  always  willing  to  assist  the  traveling  preachers 
at  camp-meetings  and  two  days'  meetings,  and  spent 
much  of  his  time  from  home."  Those  who  knew 
him  in  his  early  ministry  in  Virginia,  "speak  with 


JAMES  WARD.  69 

rupture  of  his  untiring  zeal  and  his  almost  exhaust- 
less  energy."2  His  labors  were  greatly  blessed. 
"  In  the  various  charges  he  filled,  the  most  extraor- 
dinary revivals  of  religion  were,  under  God,  the 
result  of  his  labors."  While  on  the  Cumberland 
District,  "great  displays  of  divine  power  were 
everywhere  within  its  bounds  seen  and  felt  under 
his  ministrations."  Cartwright  speaks  of  him  as 
"  a  warm-hearted,  lively,  and  zealous  preacher ;  his 
labors  were  greatly  blessed,  and  some  very  powerful 
revivals  of  religion  followed."  "  As  a  preacher," 
says  Bedford,  "  Mr.  Ward  was  not  what  the  world 
would  call  eloquent.  There  was  nothing  rhetorical 
in  his  gestures,  nor  did  he  appeal  to  the  sympathetic 
passions  of  the  people.  His  preaching  was  Scriptu- 
ral; and  this,  with  the  fact  that  he  was  a  man  of 
prayer,  always  trusting  in  God,  was  the  basis  of 
his  great  success." 
*  General  Minutes. 


70  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


vii. 

1808. 

INDIANA  DISTRICT — Samuel  Parker,  P.  E. 
Illinois— Jesse  Walker. 

AT  the  session  of  the  Western  Conference  held 
October  I,  1808,  at  Liberty  Hill,  Tennessee, 
the  Indiana  District  was  formed,  Samuel  Parker 
being  appointed  presiding  elder  of  it.  The  district 
embraced  two  circuits  in  Indiana,  three  in  Missouri, 
and  the  Illinois  Circuit,  to  which  Jesse  Walker, 
after  spending  a  year  in  Missouri,  was  appointed. 

It  was  probably  during  this  year  that  the  follow- 
ing, related  in  "  Morris's  Miscellany,"  occurred.  At 
a  camp-meeting  held  by  Mr.  Walker  during  the 
Summer,  "  early  in  the  meeting,  a  young  lady  of 
influence,  sister-in-law  of  the  territorial  judge  sent 
out  by  the  general  government,  was  so  powerfully 
converted  that  her  shouts  of  joy  and  triumph  broke 
the  silence  of  all  the  surrounding  forest  and  sent  a 
thrilling  sensation  through  every  heart  in  the  en- 
campment. This  example  of  the  power  of  saving 
grace  cheered  on  the  soldiers  of  the  cross,  and  in- 
spired all  with  confidence  of  success.  After  opera- 
ting till,  as  Jesse  Walker  expressed  it,  'the  last 
stick  of  timber  was  used  up/  that  is,  till  the  last 
sinner  left  on  the  ground  was  converted,  the  meet- 


SAMUEL  PARKER.  71 

ing  adjourned."  Bishop  Morris  relates  this  as  occur- 
ring two  years  before,  during  Mr.  Walker's  first 
term  on  the  circuit.  But  this  is  evidently  an  error, 
for  it  was  not  until  1809  that  the  Illinois  Territory 
was  organized,  and  S,  territorial  judge  appointed. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  Mr.  Walker  reported  a 
membership  of  three  hundred  and  fifty. 

SAMUEL  PARKER  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey, 
born  in  1772.  With  his  parents  he  removed  to 
what  was  afterwards  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania,  and 
there,  in  his  fifteenth  year,  under  the  preaching  of 
James  Lurton,  he  was  converted.  Removing  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Newcastle,  Kentucky,  for  four 
years  he  labored  faithfully,  zealously,  and  success- 
fully as  a  local  preacher.  In  1804  he  was  received 
in  the  Western  Conference,  and  appointed  to  the 
Hinkstone  Circuit.  For  three  years  he  traveled  in 
Kentucky,  and  one  year  on  the  Miami  Circuit,  in 
Ohio ;  and  so  efficient  had  he  proved  himself  in 
these  charges,  and  so  remarkably  had  his  labors 
been  blessed,  that,  immediately  after  his  ordination 
as  elder,  he  was  appointed  to  preside  over  the  newly 
formed  Indiana  District,  one  of  the  most  laborious 
and  one  of  the  most  responsible  appointments  in  the 
Church.  This  appointment  alone,  as  it  shows  the 
estimate  formed  of  him  by  that  wronderful  discerner 
of  character,  Bishop  Asbury,  proves  him  to  have 
been  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  his  day.  In  the 
infancy  of  the  Church,  advancement  from  the  diac- 
onate  to  the  presiding  eldership  was,  in  some  cases, 
a  necessity  ;  but  for  many  years  before  Mr.  Parker's 
day  the  bishops  had  selected  as  their  representatives 


72  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

only  those  who  had  served  some  time  as  elders ;  and 
since  that  time,  this,  with  the  rarest  exceptions,  has 
been  their  invariable  practice.  During-  the  four 
years  he  was  on  the  Indiana  District  he  was  in 
labors  more  abundant;  and  so  greatly  were  his 
labors  and  those  of  his  preachers  blessed  of  the 
Lord,  that,  before  the  expiration  of  his  term,  the 
district  was  divided  into  two,  and  the  membership 
increased  more  than  fourfold.  He  labored  after- 
wards in  Ohio  and  Kentucky  until  the  conference 
of  1819,  when  he  was  appointed,  though  in  declin- 
ing health,  to  superintend  the  work  in  Mississippi. 
He  went  to  his  field  of  labor,  but  it  was  only  to 
die.  Before  three  months  had  expired,  consump- 
tion did  its  work,  and  he  passed  from  earth  to  his 
heavenly  home. 

His  personal  appearance  was  prepossessing.  His 
form  was  slender  but  well  made,  his  forehead  ex- 
pansive, his  eye  black  and  piercing,  and  his  voice 
musical  and  capable  of  the  softest  and  sweetest  in- 
tonations, and  he  was  excelled  by  few  in  the  power 
of  song.  In  the  pulpit  he  was  often  almost  irre- 
sistible, and  wherever  he  went,  wondering  and  weep- 
ing audiences  crowded  to  hear  him.  Such  was  his 
fame  as  a  pulpit  orator  that  many  came  from  great 
distances  to  listen  to  him.  In  his  Christian  char- 
acter he  exemplified  in  an  unusual  degree  the  de- 
scription of  charity  given  by  Paul  in  his  first  letter 
to  the  Corinthians.  It  was  love  that  led  him  to 
perform  such  labors  and  endure  such  privations 
that  before  he  reached  his  fiftieth  year  he  had  lit- 
erally worn  himself  out  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 


MA  RKET-HO  USE  SER  VICES.  73 

The  following  account  of  a  service  in  which  he  en- 
gaged shows  the  wonderful  readiness  and  earnest 
zeal  of  the  preachers  of  that  day.  At  the  confer- 
ence in  Cincinnati,  at  the  close  of  his  term  on  the 
Indiana  District,  no  church  being  large  enough  to 
hold  the  crowds  who  attended  on  the  Sabbath,  serv- 
ices were  held  in  the  Lower  Market,  where  the 
preachers  occupied  a  butcher's  block  as  their  pulpit. 
Learner  Blackmail  preached  first  from  "•  Thy  King- 
dom come."  He  was  followed  immediately  by  Sam- 
uel Parker  with  another  sermon  from  "  Thy  will  be 
done."  Then  James  Ward  gave  an  exhortation. 
And  after  that  John  Collins  gave  a  thrilling  address, 
based  upon  their  peculiar  surroundings,  offering  sal- 
vation without  money  and  without  price,  and  invited 
all  who  desired  religion  to  designate  themselves, 
when  a  large  number  came  forward  and  kneeled  as 
seekers  of  salvation,  and  before  the  services  closed 
many  were  happily  converted. 
7 


74  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


VIII. 

1809. 

INDIANA  DISTRICT — Samuel  Parker,  P.  E. 

Illinois — Abraham  Amos. 

THE  session  of  the  Western  Conference  of  1809 
was  held  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Bishops  Asbury 
and  McKendrec  being  both  present.  ABRAHAM 
AMOS  was  appointed  to  the  Illinois  Circuit.  He 
had  been  received  in  the  Western  Conference  in 
1803  and  appointed  to  Natchez  in  Mississippi.  The 
next  year  his  appointment  was  the  Miami  and  Mad 
River  Circuit  in  Ohio.  In  1805  he  was  sent  to 
Guyandotte  in  Virginia,  the  next  year  to  Licking 
in  Kentucky,  and  in  1807  to  the  Livingston  Circuit 
in  the  same  State;  in  1808  he  was  appointed  to  the 
Missouri  Circuit,  and  this  year  to  the  Illinois.  At 
the  close  of  the  year  he  located.  He  was  a  native 
of  Bourbon  County,  Kentucky.  After  his  location 
he  settled  in  that  part  of  St.  Clair  which  was  after- 
wards set  off  as  Monroe  County,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death.  He  married  Mary  Garrettson,  the 
first  American  child  in  the  State  of  Illinois  who 
grew  up  to  womanhood.  After  the  death  of  Mr, 
Amos  she  married  Nathaniel  Pinckard,  grandfathe; 
of  John  C.  Pinckard  and  N.  P.  Heath,  formerly  of 
the  Illinois  Conference,  and  P.  M.  Pinckard,  of  the 


ABRAHAM  AMOS.  75 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South.  Mr.  Amos 
was  a  large,  muscular  man,  very  vehement  in  voice 
and  gesture,  sometimes,  whilst  preaching,  bringing 
his  fist  down  with  such  violence  as  to  split  the 
book-board.  He  was  a  man  of  sterling  worth,  sus- 
taining a  good  Christian  and  ministerial  character 
as  long  as  he  lived.1  He  reported  three  hundred 
and  forty-one  members  on  the  circuit,  a  slight  de- 
crease from  the  number  reported  the  year  before. 

There  were  also  reported  from  Massac  fifteen 
members,  though  no  such  appointment  appears  on 
the  Minutes  of  this  year  or  the  year  after.  It  is 
probable  that  tUis  was  the  beginning  of  the  Cash 
Creek  Circuit,  to  which  an  appointment  was  made 
the  next  year. 

1  Eev.  J.  A.  Scarritt 


76  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


1810. 

INDIANA  DISTRICT — Samuel  Parker,  P.  E. 
Illinois — Daniel  Fraley. 

CUMBERLAND  DISTRICT — Learner  Blackman,  P.  E. 
CasJi  Creek — Thomas  Kirkman. 

IN  1810  the  Western  Conference  held  its  session 
in  the  brick  chapel,  about  four  miles  north-east 
of  Shelbyville,  Kentucky.  Two  preachers  were 
sent  this  year  to  the  settlements  in  Illinois;  namely, 
Daniel  Fraley,  to  the  Illinois  Circuit;  and  Thomas 
Kirkman,  to  the  Cash  Creek  Circuit,  an  appoint- 
ment connected  with  the  Cumberland  District,  of 
which  Learner  Blackman  was  the  presiding  elder. 
This  was  DANIEL  FRALEY'S  first  year  in  the 
conference.  In  1811  he  was  appointed  to  Cold- 
water.  The  next  year  he  was  in  the  Ohio  Confer- 
ence, and  was  assigned  to  Madison ;  the  next  year 
to  Salt  River;  in  1814  to  Pickaway,  and  in  1815 
to  Whitewater.  At  the  close  of  this  year  he  located, 
and  settled  at  Centerville,  Indiana,  where  he  re- 
mained until  his  death.  In  the  Spring  before  his 
location  the  first  execution  in  the  eastern  portion 
of  Indiana  took  place.  The  criminal  was  a  man 
who  had  been  convicted  of  the  murder  of  his  son- 
in-law.  At  the  gallows  Mr.  Fraley  stood  in  the 


DANIEL  FRALEY.  77 

wagon  in  which  the  murderer  had  been  conveyed 
from  the  jail,  and  preached  a  very  impressive  ser- 
mon to  him  as  he  sat  on  his  coffin,  and  to  the  hun- 
dreds of  people  who  had  gathered  from  miles 
around  to  witness  the  execution.1  Mr.  Fraley's 
year  on  the  Illinois  Circuit  was  a  successful  one, 
the  membership  having  increased  to  four  hundred 
and  eleven.  A  camp-meeting  which  he  held  at 
Shiloh,  in  the  month  of  August,  was,  according  to 
Governor  Reynolds,  who  attended  it,  a  time  of 
power  and  success. 

He  also  organized  the  first,  society  in  Union 
Grove,  St.  Clair  County.  The  place  of  meeting 
was  the  house  of  William  Padfield,  where  the  first 
session  of  the  Illinois  Conference  was  held,  in  1824. 
The  present  Summerfield  society  is  a  continuation 
of  the  old  Union  Grove  class. 

That  part  of  Illinois  south  and  east  of  the  Kas- 
kaskia  River  was  not  settled  by  the  whites  quite  as 
early  or  as  rapidly  as  that  embraced  in  the  Illinois 
Circuit.  Yet  settlements  were  gradually  formed, 
and  the  population  increased  so  that  more  laborers 
were  needed  to  supply  the  spiritual  wants  of  the 
people.  In  1802  a  few  whites  settled  in  Shawnee- 
town,  and  by  1805  it  had  become  a  place  of  consid- 
erable trade.  The  salt-works,  twelve  miles  north- 
west of  Shawneetown,  had  been  purchased  of  the 
Indians  by  Governor  Harrison,  and  were  attracting 
a  considerable  number  of  settlers.  Several  families 
had  settled  on  Bigbay  Creek  about  1805.  Before 
1809  the  town  of  Newhaven,  on  the  Little  Wabash, 

Indiana  Miscellany. 


78  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

had  been  begun ;  and  the  population  had  increased 
so  rapidly  in  the  country  along  the  Ohio  and  the 
streams  running  into  it,  that  in  1812  three  new 
counties  were  established — Gallatin,  Johnson,  and 
Pope — embracing  the  settlements  about  Shawnee- 
town  and  the  salt-works  and  those  on  Bigbay  and 
Cash  Creeks. 

It  is  probable  that  the  circuit  of  which  Thomas 
Kirkman  was  the  first  preacher  embraced  all  the 
settlements  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Kaskaskia 
River,  around  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  to  Fort 
Massac,  if  not  to  Shawneetown.  He  reported  as 
the  result  of  his  labors  a  membership  of  seventy-one. 

According  to  the  General  Minutes,  THOMAS 
KIRKMAN  was  received  on  trial  in  the  Western 
Conference  in  1807,  but  his  appointment  for  that 
year  is  not  given.  In  1808  he  was  sent  to  the  Liv- 
ingston Circuit,  in  Kentucky.  The  next  year  his 
name  is  again  omitted,  both  in  the  appointments  and 
the  list  of  members.  But  in  1810  he  appears  again 
as  appointed  to  Cash  Creek.  In  1811  he  was  sent 
to  Roaring  River,  and  at  the  next  session  of  con- 
ference, owing  to  failing  health,  he  located.  He 
settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hopkinsvillc,  Ken- 
tucky. "His  life  was  a  reflection  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  He  was  a  preacher  of  only  moderate  tal- 
ents ;  but  so  consistent  was  he  in  his  deportment 
that  he  attracted  many  to  Christ  by  his  walk  and 
conversation.  He  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  an  orna- 
ment to  the  Church  and  a  blessing  to  the  commu- 
nity in  which  he  lived  and  died."  2 

2  Dr.  Bedford. 


LEARNER  BLACKMAN.  79 

Of  the  presiding  elder,  LEARNER  BLACKMAN,  a 
volume  might  be  written.  He  was  a  native  of  New 
Jersey,  born  in  Gloucester  County,  in  1781.  In  his 
sixteenth  year,  through  the  instrumentality  of  his 
brother-in-law,  Rev.  John  Collins,  under  the  first 
sermon  he  ever  preached,  he  was  soundly  converted, 
and  before  he  was  nineteen  was  licensed  to  preach, 
and  received  in  the  Philadelphia  Conference.  His 
first  appointment  was  to  the  Kent  Circuit,  in  Mary- 
land. His  experience  at  the  beginning  of  his  pas- 
torate on  this  charge  was  peculiar.  The  people  had 
heard  that  the  bishop  had  sent  a  black  man  as  their 
preacher,  and,  of  course,  felt  that  such  an  appoint- 
ment was  an  insult  to  them.  His  arrival  amongst 
them,  however,  removed  this  difficulty ;  but  his 
youthful  appearance  was  an  oifensc  they  could  not 
overlook.  At  his  first  service  a  leading  member 
of  the  society  requested  a  local  preacher  to  conduct 
the  exercises,  thus  ignoring  entirely  their  regularly 
appointed  pastor.  The  local  preacher  consented, 
but  at  the  close  of  his  sermon  called  on  the  youth- 
ful pastor  to  exhort.  Mr.  Blackmail's  exhortation 
convinced  them  that,  though  a  boy  in  appearance, 
in  intellect  and  experience  he  was  of  full  age.  He 
became  so  popular  in  the  circuit  that,  at  the  close 
of  the  year,  a  petition  was  sent  to  conference  for 
his  return.  The  request  was  not  granted;  for  in 
the  Spring  of  1801  he  was  sent  to  the  Dover  Cir- 
cuit in  Delaware,  and  in  the  Fall  of  the  same  year 
was  transferred  to  the  Western  Conference,  and  ap- 
pointed to  Russell  Circuit,  in  Virginia.  The  next 
year  he  traveled  the  New  River  Circuit,  in  the  same 


80  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

State,  and  the  next  year  the  Lexington  Circuit,  in 
Kentucky. 

At  the  close  of  his  year  there,  as  stated  in  his 
memoir  in  the  General  Minutes,  "  in  compliance 
with  the  request  of  the  bishops,  he  went  on  a  mis- 
sion to  Natchez.  Here  a  new  scene  of  things  pre- 
sented itself  to  his  view.  He  is  now  to  face  un- 
civilized nations  and  a  wilderness  of  four  or  five 
hundred  miles.  After  a  journey  of  ten  or  eleven 
days,  and  lying  out  as  many  nights,  making  his 
saddle-bags  his  pillow,  his  blanket  and  cloak  his 
bed,  the  heavens  his  covering,  the  God  of  Israel 
his  defense,  he  arrived  safe  in  the  Territory."  For 
the  two  following  years  he  was  presiding  elder  of 
the  Mississippi  District,  In  1808  and  1809  he  pre- 
sided in  Holston  District,  in  Tennessee.  The  two 
following  years  he  was  on  the  Cumberland  Dis- 
trict, embracing  parts  of  Kentucky,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois.  Then,  for  three  years,  he  was  presiding 
elder  of  the  Nashville  District,  and  in  1815  was 
reappointed  to  the  Cumberland  District,  This  was 
his  last  appointment,  as  he  was  drowned  in  the  Ohio 
River  whilst  returning  from  a  visit  to  his  brother- 
in-law  in  Ohio.  In  personal  appearance,  says  the 
biographer  'of  John  Johnson,  "  he  was  tall,  rather 
slender,  but  erect,  gentlemanly,  dignified,  grave,  and 
impressive,  neat  and  tasteful  in  dress,  and  affable 
and  polished  in  manners."  Jacob  Young  says  of 
him:  "He  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  natural  and 
moral  courage.  Of  him  it  might  be  said  in  truth, 
as  Rev.  William  Cravens  from  Virginia  once  said, 
'The  fear  of  man  never  once  entered  into  his  expe- 


LEARNER  BLACKMAN.       •  81 

rience.'  He  feared  no  danger,  dreaded  not  the 
tongue  of  slander,  while  he  was  doing  and  suffering 
for  the  glory  of  God.  Whatever  he  thought  ought 
to  be  done,  he  thought  could  be  done,  and,  like 
General  Jackson,  he  accomplished  every  thing  he 
undertook.  I  have  had  a  close  acquaintance  with 
many  Methodist  preachers,  and  truth  binds  me  to 
say,  although  I  have  known  greater,  I  know  not 
that  I  ever  knew  a  better  man."  The  following 
from  his  own  diary  shows  the  completeness  of  his 
consecration  to  God :  "  This  morning  I  entered  into 
the  following  resolution,  to  ask  myself  twelve  times 
in  the  course  of  each  day  this  important  question : 
Am  I  prepared  to  die?  First,  when  I  awake  in 
the  morn ;  second,  third,  and  fourth,  in  private  re- 
tirement before  private  devotion;  fifth,  at  family 
worship;  sixth,  when  I  arise  on  my  horse  to  travel 
to  appointments ;  seventh,  when  I  alight  off  my 
horse  at  meeting ;  eighth,  when  I  begin  to  preach ; 
ninth,  in  class-meeting ;  tenth,  in  private  devotion ; 
eleventh,  at  family  prayer ;  twelfth,  when  I  lie  down 
to  rest  at  night."  This  resolution,  as  his  diary 
shows,  was  faithfully  observed.  "Whenever  he 
preached,"  says  Dr.  Bedford,  "  he  expected  immedi- 
ate results,  and  he  was  seldom  disappointed.  ( I  am 
alarmed/  said  he,  '  when  sinners  are  not  converted/ 
No  danger  daunted  him,  no  privations  were  shunned. 
In  the  pulpit,  in  the  altar,  in  the  social  and  family 
circle,  everywhere  he  was  the  faithful  ambassador 
of  Christ,  and  counted  not  his  life  dear  if  he  could 
be  instrumental  in  the  accomplishment  of  good.  In 
every  department  of  his  work  he  excelled.  If  he 


82  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

preached  upon  the  duties  of  Christianity,  he  im- 
pressed upon  his  hearers  the  paramount  importance 
of  a  holy  life.  If  he  presented  the  great  doctrines 
of  the  Bible,  he  handled  error  with  a  giant  grasp. 
Frequently  he  bore  down  every  thing  before  him. 
Inspired  often  with  the  grandeur  of  his  theme,  he 
arose  to  the  loftiest  heights  of  oratory,  and  in  words 
of  burning  eloquence  portrayed  the  exceeding  sin- 
fulness  of  sin  and  the  fearful  doom  of  the  ungodly ; 
and  then,  dipping  his  pencil  in  living  light,  he  would 
paint  the  agonies  that  Jesus  bore  on  Calvary,  while 
the  hundreds  who  sat  before  him  would  be  melted 
to  tenderness  and  tears."  He  "  was  a  man,"  says 
Mrs.  Johnson,  "  whom  every  body  loved.  No  word 
but  love  will  express  the  feelings  with  which  all 
regarded  him." 

Among  the  accessions  to  Methodism  in  Illinois 
during  the  conference  year  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant was  Rev.  JOSIAS  HANDLE.  He  was  born  in 
Brunswick  County,  Virginia.  After  a  severe  strug- 
gle he  was  converted  in  North  Carolina  and  united 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  1788.  He 
was  sent  by  R.  Ellis,  presiding  elder,  to  superintend 
a  mission  school  among  the  Cherokee  Indians.  He 
remained  there  about  a  year  and  formed  a  class  of 
white  emigrants  who  had  settled  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  school.  After  supplying  a  circuit  till 
conference  in  1791,  he  was  received  in  the  traveling 
connection  and  sent  to  Broad  River.  In  1798  he 
located  and  settled  in  Warren  County,  Georgia.  In 
1802  he  was  readmitted  and  in  1809  again  located. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  General  Conferences  of 


AN  INCIDENT.  83 

1804  and  1808.  In  1811  he  removed  to  Illinois 
and  settled  near  Edwardsville.  He  died  there  in 
triumph  January  15,  1824. 

Rev.  Richard  Haney,  D.  T).,  relates  the  follow- 
ing, which  is  inserted  here  as  this  was  probably  the 
year  in  which  a  preacher  was  sent  to  them,  though 
the  circumstance  occurred  many  years  before:  "Not 
long  after  the  time  when  Methodism  was  introduced 
into  St.  Clair  County,  a  remarkable  circumstance 
occurred  in  the  south-eastern  portion  of  the  State. 
A  party  of  eight  or  ten  men  were  together  assisting 
an  emigrant  to  put  up  a  cabin  not  far  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Wabash,  when  it  was  proposed  that 
they  meet  on  the  next  Sabbath  at  one  of  the  cabins 
for  worship.  To  this  they  all  agreed.  On  the  Sab- 
bath eight  women  and  ten  men  were  assembled. 
But  amongst  them  there  was  no  one  who  had  ever 
conducted  public  worship.  Indeed,  of  the  men  not 
one  had  ever  made  a  profession  of  religion.  A 
three-legged  stool  was  placed  in  the  midst  of  them, 
a  Bible  laid  upon  it,  and  then  all  waited  for  some 
one  to  begin  the  service.  No  one  being  willing  to 
lead,  the  man  of  the  house  suggested  that  nine 
straws  be  prepared  of  equal  length  and  one  a  little 
longer,  and  that  he  who  drew  the  longer  one  should 
conduct  the  service.  To  this  they  all  pledged  them- 
selves. The  longest  straw  was  drawn  by  George 
Davidson,  who  with  great  trepidation  commenced 
the  task.  After  reading  a  chapter  in  the  Bible, 
they  sang  the  hymn,  beginning  "  Come,  thou  Fount 
of  every  blessing,"  and  then  he  fell  upon  his  knees 
to  pray.  As  with  sinking  heart  and  trembling  voice 


84  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

he  began,  the  power  of  God  fell  upon  the  assembly ; 
before  he  arose  from  his  knees  he  was  powerfully 
converted,  and  others  were  prostrate  on  the  floor, 
crying  for  mercy.  It  was  not  long  before  some  of 
them  were  converted,  and  the  work  went  on  until 
every  adult  in  the  settlement  had  become  a  child  of 
God.  They  chose  Mr.  Davidson  as  their  leader, 
who  continued  to  lead  them  and  minister  to  them 
until  they  were  supplied  with  the  services  of  an 
itinerant  by  Bishop  Asbury." 


WORK  EXTENDING.  85 


1811. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT— Samuel  Parker,  P.  E. 
Illinois— Jesse  Walker,  George  A.  Colbert. 
WABASH  DISTRICT— Jiunes  Axley,  P.  E. 
Cash  Jiiver— Baker  Wratlier. 

THE  Western  Conference  held  its  session  for 
1811  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  commencing  October 
1st.  To  the  Illinois  Circuit  Jesse  Walker  was  ap- 
pointed for  the  third  time,  with  George  A.  Colbert 
as  his  colleague.  We  have  no  record  of  Mr.  Walker's 
labors  this  year,  but  the  increase  in  the  membership 
during  the  year  shows  that  it  was  both  laborious 
and  successful.  He  reported  an  increase  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  whites  and  two  colored. 
The  settlements  were  now  rapidly  spreading  along 
the  water-courses  and  into  the  interior  of  the  State. 
As  early  as  1809  there  were  settlements  on  Shoal 
Creek  as  far  up  as  where  the  flourishing  town  of 
Greenville  now  stands,  and  along  the  Okaw  and 
smaller  streams  settlers  were  rapidly  opening  farms. 
The  spirit  of  Mr.  Walker  would  impel  him,  as  it 
did  afterwards  in  Northern  Illinois,  to  follow  up 
these  settlements  as  fast  as  they  were  formed,  no 
matter  how  great  the  labor  or  how  severe  the  ex- 
posure, and  we  may  safely  assume  that  by  this  time 


86  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

his  circuit  included  more  than  twice  the  territory 
that  it  covered  when  he  was  first  appointed  to  it. 

But  Mr.  Walker  did  not  complete  his  year  on 
the  circuit.  The  presiding  elder,  Mr.  Parker,  hav- 
ing left  the  district  early  in  the  Spring  to  attend 
the  General  Conference,  to  which  he  was  a  delegate, 
Mr.  Walker  was  taken  from  the  Illinois  Circuit  to 
supply  his  place  for  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

Of  his  colleague,  GEORGE  A.  COLBERT,  we  know 
but  little  beyond  the  record  of  his  appointments  in 
the  General  Minutes.  This  was  his  second  year  in 
the  Western  Conference.  His  first  year  had  been 
spent  on  Cold  Water  Circuit.  At  the  close  of  his 
year  in  Illinois  he  was  sent  to  Natchez.  The  next 
year  his  name  docs  not  appear  in  the  Minutes,  and 
at  the  conference  of  1814  he  was  returned  located. 
He  probably  settled  in  the  Wabash  District,  for  at 
the  Illinois  Conference  of  1828,  held  at  Madison, 
Indiana,  his  recommendation  to  elder's  orders  was 
presented  from  that  district ;  and  that  he  had  main- 
tained a  good  report  is  evident  from  his  election  to 
that  office  by  the  conference. 

To  Cash  River  (Cash  Creek  last  year),  Baker 
Wrath er  was  appointed,  with  James  Axley  as  pre- 
siding elder.  The  year  was  a  prosperous  one,  two 
hundred  and  fifteen  members  being  reported  at  its 
close — an  increase  over  the  previous  year  of  nearly 
one  hundred  and  fifty. 

BAKKR  WRATHER  was  received  on  trial  in  the 
Western  Conference  in  1810  and  appointed  to  Dan- 
ville Circuit.  His  second  charge  was  Cash  River. 
The  next  year  he  was  assigned  to  Abingdon,  the 


JAMES  AXLEY.  87 

next  year  to  Dover,  and  in  1814  to  Nashville.  In 
the  Minutes  for  1815  he  is  reported  as  located. 
But  this  is  probably  an  error,  for  at  the  conference 
of  1816  he  was  expelled  from  the  Church.  It  seems 
that  he  had  sold  a  slave  and  sent  him  to  the  South, 
thus  separating  husband  and  wife,  and  for  this  he 
was  tried  and  expelled.  It  is  said  that  he  returned 
to  the  Church  some  years  before  he  died. 

JAMES  AXLEY  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  of  his  day.  More  anecdotes  are  probably  re- 
lated of  him  than  of  any  other  Western  preacher 
save  Peter  Cartwright.  And  yet  from  the  anecdotes 
current  in  regard  to  these  men  we  learn  but  little 
of  their  true  character.  They  give  us  the  humor- 
ous or  ludicrous,  or  uncouth  or  severe  side  of  them, 
but  fail  to  show  us  their  real  worth  as  faithful 
Christians  and  laborious  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 
Mr.  Axley  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  but  re- 
moved with  his  parents  to  Kentucky  in  childhood. 
He  was  converted  in  early  life  and  was  received  into 
the  Church  by  Peter  Cartwright  when  forming  the 
Livingston  Circuit  whilst  serving  as  a  supply  under 
the  presiding  elder.  He  united  with  the  Western 
Conference  in  1804,  and  continued  traveling  until 
1822,  when  he  located  and  settled  on  a  farm  in 
East  Tennessee.  During  his  itinerant  life  he  was 
eight  years  on  circuits  in  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and 
Ohio,  and  ten  years  on  districts,  all  save  one  in  the 
Tennessee  Conference. 

Physically  he  was  a  large  man,  nearly  six  feet  in 
height,  with  a  large,  strong,  muscular  frame  with 
but  little  surplus  flesh,  with  a  chest  broad  and  deep, 


88  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

and  a  voice  so  strong  that  he  could  frequently  be 
heard  distinctly  at  a  distance  of  half  a  mile.  His 
features  were  coarse,  his  countenance  indicative  of 
great  firmness,  and  his  walk  erect  and  steady.  His 
advantages  for  education  were  quite  limited,  but  by 
his  fidelity  in  study  he  became  mighty  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  one  of  the  most  successful  preachers  of  his 
day.  As  a  Christian,  he  was  noted  for  his  strong 
faith,  his  intense  earnestness,  his  deep  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  Christ,  and  his  uncompromising  hatred 
of  sin  in  every  form. 

As  a  preacher,  he  varied  as  much  in  manner  as 
in  matter.  When  unfolding  the  riches  of  the  Gos- 
pel, he  often  moved  his  hearers  to  tears.  But  when 
denouncing  sin,  to  quote  from  Dr.  McAnally,  he  could 
use  "such  sharp-pointed  irony,  such  biting  ridicule, 
such  withering  sarcasm "  as  has  rarely,  if  ever, 
been  heard  before  or  since.  He  was  especially 
severe  on  slavery,  drunkenness,  the  use  of  tobacco, 
and  extravagance  in  dress.  Such  was  his  hatred 
of  slavery,  that,  as  preacher  and  presiding  elder,  he 
took  decided  ground  against  slaveholders  having  any 
thing  to  do  in  managing  the  affairs  of  the  Church, 
and  especially  preaching.  He  was  not  willing  even 
that  a  man  who  owned  slaves  should  lead  a  public 
prayer-meeting.  He  had  wonderful  power  over  his 
congregations.  Sometimes,  by  one  of  his  odd  re- 
marks, the  whole  audience  would  'be  convulsed  with 
laughter,  and,  in  a  few  minutes,  by  his  melting 
pathos,  would  be  bathed  in  tears.  No  preacher  of 
his  day  could  command  larger  congregations  than 
he.  Generally  he  would  take  a  text,  and  unfold 


AXLE  Y  8  PREACHING.          -  89 

and  apply  it  in  the  orthodox  manner.  But  some- 
times he  would  take  a  whole  paragraph  denouncing 
some  special  sin,  and,  after  dwelling  on  that  until 
satisfied,  would  take  another  in  which  another  sin 
is  spoken  of,  and  another,  and  another,  until  he  felt 
that  he  had  delivered  his  soul.  "  As  a  doctrinal- 
preacher,  Mr.  Axley  deservedly  stood  high.  Few 
men  ever  better  understood  or  could  better  expound 
the  doctrines  of  the  Methodist  Church  than  he." 
Mrs.  Johnson  says  of  his  preaching :  "  He  usually 
began  his  sermons  with  natural  strokes  which  were 
generally  mistaken  for  humor,  and  seldom  failed  to 
excite  his  hearers  to  laughter.  But  before  he  had 
spoken  long,  his  deep,  sonorous  voice  became  exceed- 
ingly impressive,  and  the  weeping  was  as  universal 
and  as  irresistible  as  the  laughter  had  been  at  first." 

In  the  social  circle  among  his  intimate  friends, 
he  was  easy  in  his  manners,  free  in  conversation 
and  quite  communicative.  In  mixed  society  he  was 
reserved  and  abrupt.  At  home  he  was  kind,  indus- 
trious, and  economical.  Of  his  wonderful  power 
in  prayer  and  the  wonderful  answers  that  Avere 
accorded  to  his  prayers,  many  remarkable  facts  are 
recorded. 

He  died  near  Madison ville,  Tennessee,  in  1838. 
His  end  was  peace.  Though  his  sufferings  for  the 
three  weeks  of  his  last  illness  were  great,  he  bore 
them  patiently.  Says  Dr.  Redford  of  him  :  "When 
asked  by  a  member  of  the  Church  if  it  was  con- 
venient to  have  prayers,  '  It  is  always  convenient 
to  have  prayers  in  my  house,'  said  the  dying  saint. 
Just  before  he  passed  away,  he  called  first  his  wife, 


90  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

and  afterwards  his  children,  one  by  one,  and  laying 
his  hands  on  their  heads,  imparted  to  them  his  last 
blessing,  requesting  each  one  to  meet  him  in  heaven. 
He  then  made  the  same  request  of  his  friends  who 
were  present,  and  in  a  few  moments  closed  his  eyes 
in  death.". 

There  were  many  points  of  resemblance  between 
Axley  and  his  friend  Peter  Cartwright.  The  latter 
says  of  him :  "  Brother  Axley  was  truly  a  child  of 
nature,  a  great  deal  of  sternness  and  firmness  about 
him  as  well  as  oddity.  But  he  was  a  great  and 
good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  often  said,  a 
preacher  that  was  good  and  true  had  a  trinity  of  dev- 
ils to  fight — superfluous  dress,  whisky,  and  slavery. 
Brother  Axley  and  myself  were  like  Jonathan  and 
David."  And  the  friendship  formed  between  them 
in  early  life  continued  unbroken  until  Axley  entered 
into  rest. 

During  the  nine  years  in  which  the  work  in 
Illinois  had  been  connected  with  the  Western  Con- 
ference, Methodism,  at  first  confined  to  a  narrow 
strip  along  the  Mississippi,  had  spread  over  the 
southern  portion  of  the  State,  keeping  pace  with  the 
ever  advancing  settlements,  so  that  instead  of  the 
one  feeble  mission,  with  which  the  work  com- 
menced, there  were  now  two  strong  circuits  with  a 
membership  of  seven  hundred  and  sixty  whites  and 
two  colored.  Instead  of  the  one  discouraged  mis- 
sionary, unvisited  by  a  presiding  elder  during  his 
whole  term,  there  were  now  three  circuit  preachers, 
cheered  by  the  frequent,  if  not  quarterly,  visits  of 
two  able  and  sympathizing  presiding  elders.  And 


THE  WORK  EXTENDING.  91 

thus  was  the  work  begun  that  afterwards,  by  the 
divine  blessing,  spread  over  the  whole  State,  and, 
indeed,  over  the  whole  North-west,  divided  already 
into  four  strong  annual  conferences  in  Illinois,  and 
more  than  twice  that  number  in  Iowa,  Wisconsin, 
and  Minnesota. 


PART  II. 


IN  THE  TENNESSEE  CONFERENCE. 

1812  to  1815. 


F>art  II. 

IN  THE  TENNESSEE  CONFERENCE. 

1812  to  1815. 


I. 

1812. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT — Jesse  "Walker,  P.  E. 
Illinois — James  Dixon. 

WABASH  DISTRICT— Peter  Cartwright,  P.  E. 
Little  Wabash — John  Smith. 
Massac — David  Goodner. 

AT  the  General  Conference  of  1812  the  Western 
Conference  was  divided  into  two :  the  Ohio 
Conference,  embracing  Western  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
Eastern  Indiana,  Western  Virginia,  and  Northern 
Kentucky ;  and  the  Tennessee  Conference,  including 
Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Southern  Kentucky,  Western 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  all  the  .territory  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River. 

The  first  session  of  the  Tennessee  Conference 
was  held  at  Fountain  Head,  Snmner  County,  Ten- 
nessee, November  12,  1812.  Bishops  Asbury  and 
McKendree  were  both  present,  though  the  confer- 
ence was  under  the  superintendency  of  the  latter. 
Some  changes  were  made  in  the  work  in  Illinois. 
The  name  of  the  Cash  Itiver  .Circuit  was  changed 


96  METIlODrx\f  IX 

to  Massac,  and  a  ne\v  circuit  was  formed  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  territory  and  named  Little  Wa- 
bash. It  is  probable  that  some  societies  had  been 
formed  in  this  region  before  this  year,  and  had  been 
supplied  by  the  preachers  on  the  Vineennes  Cir- 
cuit. These  two  circuits  were  placed  in  the  Wabash 
District,  of  which  Peter  Cartwright  was  appointed 
presiding  elder.  The  Illinois  Circuit  was  connected 
with  the  Illinois  District,  of  which  Jesse  Walker 
was  made  presiding  elder.  Though  this  district  was 
called  Illinois,  five  out  of  the  six  circuits  composing 
it  were  in  Missouri,  and  only  one  in  the  territory 
from  which  it  took  its  name.  To  the  Illinois' Cir- 
cuit James  Dixon  was  appointed,  John  Smith  to 
the  Little  Wabash,  and  David  Goodlier  to  Massac. 
There  was  some  decrease  in  the  membership  this 
year.  In  the  Illinois  Circuit  was  a  falling  off  of 
a  hundred  and  eleven  from  the  year  before ;  the 
Massac  Circuit  had  only  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
one  instead  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifteen  reported 
from  Cash  River;  and  the  newly  established  Little 
Wabash  Circuit  reported  only  seventy-two,  making 
a  loss  of  eighty-three  members  in  the  three  charges 
during  the  year. 

Yet  in  other  respects  advancement  was  made. 
John  Moore,  son  of  James  Moore,  who  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  what  is  now  Monroe  County, 
built  a  large  brick  house  a  mile  and  a  half  north 
of  Waterloo,  cutting  «ff  two  small  rooms  from  one 
end  for  his  family,  and  setting  apart  all  the  rest  of 
the  house  for  a  preaching-place.  Many  protracted 
and  quarterly-meetings  were  held  there,  and  many 


JAMES  DJXOX.  97 

souls  were  born  into  the  kingdom.  The  meetings 
were  wholly  supported  by  Mr.  Moore,  but  he  never 
begrudged  what  he  gave,  and  would  have  given 
more  for  the  sake  of  the  cause. 

JAMES  Dixox  was  a  native  of  Ireland.  When 
young  he  came  to  America  with  his  father,  who  set- 
tled in  Western  Virginia.  Mr.  Dixon  was  admitted 
into  the  Western  Conference  in  1810.  His  first  cir- 
cuit was  Tuscarawas,  in  Ohio,  his  next  Green  River, 
in  Kentucky,  and  this  year  the  Illinois  Circuit.  In 
1813  he  was  sent  to  Goose  Creek,  in  1814  to  Knox- 
villc,  and  the  next  year  to  Claiborne  and  Natchez. 
Here  his  health  failed,  and  for  some  years  he  sus- 
tained a  superannuated  relation  to  the  conference. 
In  1820  he  was  appointed  to  Knoxville  and  Green- 
ville;  but  the  next  year  he  was  again  placed  on  the 
superannuated  list,  and  continued  in  it  until  his 
death,  in  1849.  Says  Dr.  Me  Anally:  "He  was 
finely  educated  and  highly  gifted.  In  his  prime  he 
was  an  able  preacher  and  an  able  exponent  and  de- 
fender of  the  doctrines  and  polity  of  the  Church  to 
which  he  belonged."  He  gave  evidence  of  this  in 
a  protracted  newspaper  controversy  with  Dr.  I. 
Anderson,  a  leading  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Tennessee,  who  had  attacked  the  peculiar 
doctrines  and  polity  of  the  Methodist  Church.  Mr. 
Dixon  ably  defended  them,  and,  in  the  opinion  of 
many,  was  not  worsted  by  his  learned  and  able  op- 
ponent. Whilst  traveling  the  Knoxville  and  Green- 
ville charge  he  was  suddenly  stricken  down  by 
disease,  remaining  for  some  weeks  utterly  helpless 
and  almost  unconscious.  When  restored  to  con- 


98  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

sciousness,  it  was  found  that  his  memory  had  com- 
pletely failed,  so  that  he  could  not  even  tell  his  own 
name.  Some  years  afterwards  he  became  entirely 
deranged,  and  was  placed  in  the  lunatic  asylum  at 
Nashville,  where  he  continued  until  released  by 
death. 

JOHN  SMITH  was  by  birth  a  Virginian.  This 
was  his  first  year  in  the  conference.  The  next  year 
lie  was  appointed  to  Red  River  Circuit,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  year  was  discontinued.  But  the  follow- 
ing year  lie  was  again  received  on  trial,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  year  the  conference  gave  him  the  benefit 
of  his  previous  probation,  and  admitted  him  into 
full  connection,  and  elected  him  to  deacon's  orders. 
He  continued  traveling  until  1821,  when  he  located. 
After  his  location  he  settled  at  Monticello,  Ken- 
tucky, and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine.  In 
1832  he  removed  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  and  formed 
a  partnership  with  Dr.  Todd,  a  leading  physician 
of  that  place.  He  afterwards  removed,  first  to  Car- 
linvillc,  where  he  also  practiced  medicine  in  part- 
nership with  Dr.  Jaync,  and  thence  to  Edwards- 
ville,  where  he  died.  He  was  a  good  preacher,  a 
natural  orator,  of  fine  education,  neat  in  his  per- 
sonal appearance,  a  faithful  Christian,  quite  active 
for  many  years  as  a  local  preacher,  and  a  man  of 
influence  in  the  community  in  which  he  lived.  In 
his  early  ministry  he  was  very  popular  and  useful. 
But  for  some  time  before  he  died  he  ceased  preach- 
ing altogether.1  One  of  his  daughters  was  married 
to  Rev.  L.  L.  Harlan,  of  Macoupin  County. 

1  Rev.  L.  L.  Harlan. 


PETER  CARTWRIGHT.  99 

Of  DAVID  GOODXER,  who  traveled  the  Massac 
Circuit  this  year,  we  have  but  a  meager  account. 
He  had  united  with  the  Western  Conference  in 
1811,  and  had  been  appointed  to  Richmond  and 
Flint  Circuit.  At  the  close  of  his  year  on  Massac 
he  located.  In  1819  he  was  readmitted,  and  trav- 
eled the  Caney  Fork  Circuit  one  year,  at  the  close 
of  which  he  located  again,  and  we  have  no  further 
account  of  him. 

Much  has  been  written  of  PETER  CARTWRIGHT, 
who  was  this  year  presiding  elder  of  the  "VVabash 
District,  and  much  more  might  be  written.  But  as 
this  was  the  only  year  in  which  he  was  connected 
with  Methodism  in  Illinois  until  his  permanent 
connection  with  it  by  transfer  to  the  conference,  it 
will  be  more  appropriate  to  postpone  an  account  of 
his  life  and  character  until  we  reach  the  organiza- 
tion of  that  body.  This  was  the  first  of  his  fifty 
years  in  the  presiding  eldership.  He  says  of  his 
appointment  in  his  autobiography :  "  I  told  Bishop 
Asbury  that  I  deliberately  believed  that  I  ought 
not  to  be  appointed  presiding  elder,  for  I  was  not 
qualified  for  the  office  ;  but  he  told  me  there  was 
no  appeal  from  his  judgment.  At  the  end  of  six 
months  I  wrote  to  him,  begging  a  release  from  the 
post  he  had  assigned  me;  but  when  he  returned  an 
answer  he  said  I  must  abide  his  judgment,  and 
stand  in  my  lot  to  the  end  of  the  time.  I  continued 
accordingly  in  the  service;  but  the  most  of  the  year 
was  gloomy  to  me,  feeling  that  I  had  not  the  first 
qualification  for  the  office  of  a  presiding  elder. 
Perhaps  I  never  spent  a  more  gloomy  and  sad  yeai1 


100  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

than  this  in  all  my  itinerant  life ;  and  from  that  day 
to  this  I  can  safely  say  the  presiding  elder's  office 
has  had  no  special  charm  for  me ;  and  I  will  re- 
mark that  I  have  often  wondered  at  the  aspirations 
of  many,  very  many  Methodist  preachers  for  the 
office  of  presiding  elder,  and  have  frequently  said, 
if  I  were  a  bishop,  that  such  aspirants  should  always 
go  without  office  under  my  administration.  I  look 
upon  this  disposition  as  the  outcropping  of  fallen 
and  unsanctified  human  nature,  and  whenever  this 
spirit,  in  a  large  degree,  gets  into  a  preacher,  he 
seldom  ever  does  much  good  afterward."  To  those 
who  knew  Dr.  Cartwright,  and  especially  to  those 
who  were  associated  with  him  in  the  presiding  elder- 
ship, and  witnessed  the  scene  with  Bishop  Waugh, 
described  by  Mr.  Daniels  in  the  National  Repository 
for  April,  1880,  these  remarks  appear  very  singular, 
to  say  the  least. 


IVY  WALKE.  101 


II. 

1813. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT— Jesse  Walker,  P.  E. 
Illinois— Ivy  Wulke. 
Little  Wabash — James  Porter. 
Massac — Josiah  Patterson. 

*"r\EIE  conference  held  its  session  of  1813  at  Rush 
JL  Chapel,  Williamson  County,  Tennessee,  begin- 
ning on  Friday,  October  1st,  and  continuing  six 
days.  The  work  in  Illinois  was  placed  in  one  dis- 
trict, under  the  superintendence  of  Jesse  Walker, 
the  circuits  remaining  the  same  as  last  year.  To 
the  Illinois  Circuit  Ivy  Walke  was  appointed,  James 
Porter  to  the  Little  Wabash,  and  Josiah  Patterson 
to  Massac.  On  the  Illinois  Circuit  there  was  a 
decrease  this  year  of  twenty-eight  members ;  but  on 
the  Little  Wabash  there  was  an  increase  of  eighty- 
two,  and  on  Massac  of  one  hundred  and  eleven, 
making  an  increase  in  the  Territory  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty-five. 

Of  IVY  WALKE  we  have  no  information  save 
that  afforded  by  the  General  Minutes.  This  was  his 
first  year  in  the  conference.  The  next  year  he 
traveled  Goose  Creek  Circuit,  in  Tennessee,  and  the 
next  year  Clinch  Circuit.  In  1816  his  name  does 
not  appear  on  the  Minutes,  and  the  next  year  he  is 
reported  located. 


102  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

JAMES  PORTER  was  born  in  Washington  County, 
Virginia.  He  united  with  the  Tennessee  Confer- 
ence in  1812,  and  was  appointed  to  Wayne  Circuit. 
After  leaving  Illinois  he  continued  traveling  in  the 
Tennessee  Conference  until  1820,  when  he  fell  into 
the  Kentuky  Conference,  in  which  he  remained  until 
1823,  when,  on  account  of  ill-health,  he  located. 
He  was,  says  Dr.  McFerrin,  a  faithful  servant  of 
the  Church. 

JOSIAH  PATTERSON'S  experience  as  an  itinerant 
was  peculiar  for  the  time  in  which  he  lived,  and 
very  different  from  that  of  most  of  his  associates. 
Whilst  other  preachers  were  changed  through  all 
the  States  and  Territories  from  Illinois  to  Missis- 
sippi, and  from  Virginia  to  Missouri,  his  labors  for 
his  whole  itinerant  life  were  confined  to  Illinois; 
and,  though  connected  with  three  conferences,  he 
never  received  an  appointment  out  of  the  territory 
to  which  he  was  first  appointed.  He  was  a  native 
of  South  Carolina,  born  May  12,  1793.  In  1812 
he  removed  to  Tennessee,  where  he  was  converted 
and  united  with  the  Church.  Soon  after  he  was 
licensed  to  preach,  and  in  1813,  when  he  was  only 
in  his  twenty-first  year,  he  was  received  into  the 
Tennessee  Conference. 

His  appointments  were  as  follows:  1813,  to 
Massac;  1814,  St.  Mary's;  1815,  Bigbay ;  1816, 
Cash  River  and  Bigbay;  1817-18,  Okaw ;  1819, 
Cash  River;  1820,  Shoal  Creek;  1821,  Okaw;  1822, 
Wabash  and  Mt.  Vernon ;  1823-24,  Cash  River. 
In  1825  he  was  granted  a  supernumerary  relation, 
and  assigned  to  Brownsville  alone,  and  in  1826,  in 


JOS T AH  PATTERSON.  103 

the  same  relation,  to  Kaskaskia  with  James  Had- 
ley.  During  all  these  years  he  labored  with  great 
acceptability  and  usefulness.  At  the  conference  of 
1827  he  was  granted  a  superannuated  relation,  in 
which  he  remained  until  his  death,  October  15,  1829. 
His  memoir  in  the  General  Minutes  says  of  him  :  "  He 
was  eminently  a  man  of  faith  and  prayer,  punctual 
in  attending  his  appointments,  faithful  in  preaching 
and  visiting  from  house  to  house,  and  wherever  he 
went  God  owned  and  blessed  his  labors.  Few  men 
among  us  have  been  instrumental  in  bringing  more 
souls  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  than  Brother  Patter- 
son." "  In  personal  appearance  he  was  not  very 
prepossessing,  being  low  in  stature,  somewhat  stoop- 
shouldered,  and  in  repose  apparently  thoughtless; 
but  when  aroused  in  preaching,  as  was  usually  the 
case  with  him,  every  muscle  seemed  instinct  with 
life.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  religious  emotions, 
and  was  sometimes  affected  with  that  strange  dis- 
ease, the  jerks.  In  his  pastoral  visitations  he  was 
accustomed  to  pay  particular  attention  to  the  chil- 
dren, and  made  it  a  rule  to  teach  them  the  cat- 
echism of  the  Church  wherever  he  visited."1  In 
severe  labor  and  exposure  probably  none  of  the 
pioneers  of  Methodism  in  Illinois,  save  Jesse 
Walker,  endured  more  than  Mr.  Patterson.  The 
writer  has  heard  from  his  descendants,  who  resided 
in  Bloomington,  many  stories  of  his  sufferings 
from  high  water  and  storms,  and  lodging  on  the 
ground  whilst  traveling  his  vast  circuits  in  South- 
ern Illinois. 


104  METHOD1XM  IN  JLL1NOIS. 


in. 

1814. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT — Jesse  Walker,  P.  E. 

Illinois — James  Noland. 

St.  Mary's — Josiali  Patterson. 

Forl  Massac  and  Little  Wabash — John  C.  Harbison. 

OF  the  year  1814  but  a  brief  account  can  be 
given.  The  session  of  the  Tennessee  Confer- 
ence was  held  at  New  Chapel,  Logan  County,  Ken- 
tucky, beginning  September  29th,  and  continuing 
eight  days.  Jesse  Walker  was  reappointed  to  the 
district,  James  Noland  was  sent  to  the  Illinois  Cir- 
cuit, Josiah  Patterson  to  a  new  charge  called  St. 
Mary's,  and  John  C.  Harbison  to  Fort  Massac  and 
Little  Wabash,  which  were  united  this  year.  The 
St.  Mary's  Circuit  was  a  part  of  the  old  Cash  River 
Circuit,  embracing  the  territory  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio  to  the  Okaw.  Several  changes  seem  to 
have  been  made  in  the  work  during  the  year  by 
the  presiding  elder,  as  indicated  in  the  reports  of 
charges  and  numbers  made  to  the  next  conference. 
Some  of  the  charges  formed  in  1814  were  not  re- 
ported at  all,  and  some  new  ones  are  mentioned. 
The  Illinois  Circuit  reports  462  members  against 
408  last  year.  A  new  circuit,  the  Okaw,  formed 
from  the  south  part  of  the  Illinois  Circuit,  is  re- 


JAMES  NOLAND.  105 

turned  with  thirty-three  members.  The  Cash  River 
Circuit,  which  was  not  mentioned  last  year,  reports 
286  whites  and  38  colored  members.  Bigby  or  Big- 
bay,  as  it  should  be  written,  which  was  probably 
the  Fort  Massac  of  last  year,  reports  317  whites 
and  29  colored,  and  Wabash  returns  261  whites. 
The  entire  membership  in  Illinois  this  year,  as  re- 
ported, was  1359  whites  and  67  colored,  an  increase 
of  582  in  all  over  the  membership  of  the  year  be- 
fore. There  is  probably  some  error  in  these  reports. 

JAMES  XOLAND  traveled  only  this  year,  having 
been  received  by  the  Tennessee  Conference  at  the 
beginning,  and  discontinued  at  the  close  of  the  year. 
He  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  born  about  1790. 
He  came  to  Illinois  in  1793  with  his  parents,  who 
settled  in  Monroe  County.  He  was  converted  in 
early  life  under  the  ministry  of  John  Clarke.  He 
was  more  than  an  average  preacher,  and  at  times 
was  wonderfully  eloquent.  He  was  very  zealous, 
quite  independent,  and  somewhat  disposed  to  con- 
troversy. There  was  a  Dunkard  settlement  at  White- 
side  Station,  two  miles  south  of  Columbia,  with  the 
elders  of  which  he  discussed  the  restorationist  doc- 
trine, and  utterly  discomfited  them.  He  was  a  great 
peace-maker,  was  very  industrious,  and  stood  high 
as  a  Christian.  It  is  believed  that  he  started  the 
first  Sunday-school  in  the  State,  in  Columbia,  Mon- 
roe County,  in  1816  or  1817.  He  retired  from 
the  itinerancy  to  attend  to  his  temporal  matters, 
and  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  on  his  farm  near  Co- 
lumbia.1 

1  Capt.  J.  M.  Moore. 


106  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

This  was  also  the  first  year  of  JOHN  C.  HARBI- 
SON in  the  itinerancy.  He  had  been  a  lawyer,  and 
gave  up  a  good  practice  for  the  sake  of  the  minis- 
try. The  next  year  he  was  on  Cash  Biver  Circuit. 
In  1816  he  was  elected  as  the  first  secretary  of  the 
newly  formed  Missouri  Conference,  into  which  he 
had  fallen,  and  was  sent  from  it  to  Belleview  and 
Saline.  The  two  following  years  he  was  on  the 
Buffalo  Circuit,  in  Missouri.  In  1819  his  name 
does  not  appear  on  the  Minutes,  and  in  1820  he  is 
reported  expelled.  At  the  joint  session  of  the  Illi- 
nois and  Missouri  Conferences,  in  1824,  "  Thomas 
Wright  introduced  a  motion,  seconded  by  Jesse 
Walker,  that  John  C.  Harbison,  late  a  deacon  in 
the  traveling  connection,  but  expelled,  should  be 
restored  to  his  official  standing ;  which  motion  was 
lost.  It  was  then  moved  by  John  Dew  that  the 
presiding  elder  be  instructed  to  demand  his  parch- 
ments, which  motion  prevailed."2  It  is  evident  from 
this  that  the  justice  or  propriety  of  his  expulsion 
was  questioned  by  some  of  the  best  men  in  the 
Conference. 


2  Journal  of  Illinois  Conference. 


CONFERENCE  SESSIONS.  107 


iv. 

1815. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT — Jesse  Walker,  P.  E. 

Illinois— John  Scripps. 

Okaw — To  be  supplied. 

Cash  River- — John  C.  Harbison. 

Bigbay — Josiah  Patterson. 

Wabash— Daniel  McHenry. 

session  of  the  Tennessee  Conference  of 
X  1815  was  an  important  one  in  many  respects. 
It  was  held  at  Bethlehem  meeting-house,  Wilson 
County,  Tennessee,  beginning  October  20th.  It 
was  the  last  session  at  which  the  preachers  from 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  and  Mississippi  met  with 
those  from  Tennessee  and  Kentucky;  for,  at  the 
General  Conference  in  the  following  Spring,  the 
first  three  were  formed  into  the  Missouri  Confer- 
ence, and  the  fourth  into  the  Mississippi.  It  was 
also  the  last  visit  of  Bishop  Asbury  to  the  West. 
During  the  session  he  preached  a  discourse  on  the 
death  of  Bishop  Coke,  and  delivered  also  his  own 
farewell  address  to  the  conference.  Bishop  Mc- 
Kendree  was  also  present  at  the  session.  Some 
changes  were  made  in  the  work  in  Illinois,  the  three 
appointments  of  the  year  before  being  increased  to 
five.  Only  four  preachers,  however,  were  appointed, 
one  of  the  charges,  the  Okaw,  being  left  to  be  sup- 


108  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

plied.  But,  instead  of  continuing  it  as  a  separate 
charge,  the  presiding  elder  reunited  it  with  the  Illi- 
nois Circuit,  of  which  it  had  once  formed  a  part, 
and  appointed  the  same  preacher,  John  Scripps,  to 
travel  the  whole  work,  embracing  the  counties  of 
Madison,  St.  Clair,  Monroe,  and  Randolph.  The 
returns  at  the  end  of  the  year  show  a  great  falling 
off  in  the  membership,  so  great,  indeed,  as  to  lead 
to  a  suspicion  that  there  must  be  some  error  in  the 
figures  of  the  preceding  year.  This  year,  from  all 
the  circuits,  only  nine  hundred  and  sixty-three 
white  and  five  colored  members  were  reported,  a 
loss  for  the  year  of  three  hundred  and  ninety-six 
whites  and  sixty-two  colored. 

But,  although  there  was  such  a  large  decrease 
in  the  membership  of  the  Church,  the  country 
continued  to  improve;  new  settlements  were  con- 
stantly made,  and  new  opportunities  thus  afforded 
for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel.  It  was  during  this 
year  that  the  first  settlements  were  made  in  what 
are  now  the  counties  of  Maconpin  and  Greene,  a 
Mr.  Coop,  being  the  first  to  settle  in  the  former, 
and  Thomas  Carlin  and  Thomas  Rollin  in  the  lat- 
ter. The  settlements,  however,  did  not  increase 
very  rapidly  in  these  counties  until  after  the  with- 
drawal of  the  Kickapoo  Indians,  in  1818.  During 
this  year  the  first  Methodist  society  was  formed  in 
Alton,  by  John  Scripps,  who  was  then  traveling  the 
Illinois  Circuit.1  "At  Kaskaskia,  the  then  seat  of 
government,  there  had  been  occasional  preaching, 
but  these  occasions  had  been  few  and  far  between."2 


'Rev.  J.  Scripps.        2Dr.  McAnally. 


PROTESTANT  CHURCHES.  109 

The  itinerancy  had  entirely  neglected  this  place. 
"At  my  first  appointment,"  says  Scripps,  "Sunday, 
April  14th,  I  was  much  annoyed  by  the  French 
Catholics,  who  crowded  the  court-house  door,  with 
noisy  disturbances,  while  their  chapel  bell,  in  imme- 
diate contiguity,  commenced  ringing,  and  its  clatter- 
ing reverberations  filled  our  room,  till  Governor 
Edwards  went  out  and  procured  silence.  Through 
the  residue  of  the  year  we  had  quietness,  a  respect- 
able, attentive,  feeling  congregation,  and  much  pros- 
pect of  doing  good;  but  I  made  no  efforts  towards 
raising  a  class." 

Up  to  this  time,  the  only  organized  Protestant 
Churches  in  the  Territory  had  been  the  Methodists, 
the  Regular  or  Hardshell,  as  they  were  termed,  and 
the  Separating  Baptists.  But  on  July  1,  1816,  the 
first  Presbyterian  sermon  was  preached  by  a  travel- 
ing minister  at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Alexander,  near 
Shiloh,  in  St.  Clair  County.  His  text  was  1  Peter 
iv,  18.  Soon  afterwards,  Rev.  Mr.  Giddings  moved 
to  the  country  and  organized  the  first  Presbyterian 
Churches.  Many  of  that  denomination  scattered 
through  the  country,  had  put  themselves  under  the 
watch-care  of  the  Methodists  until  their  own  soci- 
eties could  be  organized.  Some  of  them  became  so 
attached  to  our  usages  that  they  preferred  remain- 
ing with  us  permanently;  but  most,  as  opportunity 
was  afforded,  returned  to  the  mother  Church,  and 
aided  in  the  establishment  of  Presbyterianism  in 
the  land. 

As  a  specimen  of  the  labors  of  some  of  the  early 
itinerants  in  Illinois,  the  following  description  of  a 


110  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

round  of  quarterly-meetings  by  the  presiding  elder, 
Jesse  Walker,  as  given  by  John  Scripps,  is  worth 
preserving: 

"  He  commenced  this  round  at  Goshen  meeting- 
house, near  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Edwards- 
ville,  Illinois,  on  Friday,  the  1st  of  April.  Closing 
his  meeting  on  Monday,  the  4th,  he  traveled  a  zig- 
zag route,  filling  daily  and  nightly  appointments  in 
different  neighborhoods  in  the  Illinois  Circuit,  till 
he  arrived  at  the  Big  Spring  meeting-house  on  Fri- 
day, the  8th,  where,  in  a  protracted  meeting,  he  la- 
bored till  Monday,  the  llth.  A  second  week  of 
similar  services,  through  otherwise  destitute  settle- 
ments, brought  him  to  Davis's  school-house,  below 
the  confluence  of  the  Big  Muddy  River  with  the 
Mississippi,  probably  one  hundred  miles  south  of  his 
starting-point.  I  found  him  here  on  Saturday,  the 
16th,  accompanied  by  Jacob  Whitesides  (then  just 
putting  on  the  itinerant  harness).  At  this  place 
there  were  some  conversions,  and  a  class  of  sixteen 
persons  was  formed.  Jacob  Whitesides  was  sent 
back  to  labor  in  the  field  of  the  last  week's  opera- 
tions, with  directions  to  form  a  new  circuit,  which 
was  eventually  effected,  and  it  was  denominated  the 
Okaw  Circuit. 

"On  Monday,  the  18th,  Jesse  Walker,  J.  Patter- 
son, and  myself  set  out  for  the  Massac  camp-meet- 
ing, to  be  held  at  the  Rock  and  Cave,  on  the  Ohio 
River.  We  traveled  this  day  in  an  easterly  direc- 
tion, through  a  generally  uninhabited  country  and 
almost  pathless  woods,  thirty-two  miles,  to  Thomas 
Standard's,  where  a  congregation,  previously  notified 


MINISTERIAL  LABORS.  Ill 

by  Brother  Patterson,  awaited  our  arrival.  The 
exercises  of  the  evening  were  thrillingly  interesting, 
and  continued  till  midnight.  About  noon  the  next 
day  we  separated,  still  tending  onward  in  devious 
paths  to  hold  night-meetings  six  or  eight  miles 
apart,  to  meet  again  the  next  day,  probably  again  to 
part  for  the  night,  to  hold  as  many  meetings  as  our 
numbers  and  the  localities  of  the  neighborhood 
would  admit  of.  On  Friday,  the  22d,  we  arrived 
at  the  camp-ground.  Services  commenced  imme- 
diately upon  our  arrival,  and  during  the  entire 
progress  of  the  meeting  we  had  precious  seasons 
of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  sev- 
eral conversions,  and  many  accessions  to  the  Church. 
Brother  J.  Johnson  was  with  us  one  of  the  nights, 
and  preached  for  us.  This  meeting  broke  on  Mon- 
day. Brother  Walker  closed  the  services  with  an 
interesting  discourse ;  but  Monday  night  found  him 
several  miles  on  his  way  to  his  next  appointment, 
again  holding  forth  to  a  large  congregation  in  Proc- 
tor's meeting-house.  But  to  particularize  his  labors 
would  swell  this  account  to  too  great  an  extent. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that,  crossing  the  Big  Wabash  near 
its  mouth,  we  ascended  that  river  in  the  then  Ter-' 
ritory  of  Indiana,  crossed  the  Black  River,  Patoka 
and  White  Rivers,  to  Brother  Johnson's,  about 
twelve  miles  from  Vincennes.  By  the  next  Friday, 
April  29th,  the  quarterly-meeting  for  Vincennes 
Circuit  was  held.  It  was  a  time  of  power,  and 
closed  Monday  morning.  We  made  a  short  travel 
that  day  of  six  or  eight  miles,  and  held  a  night- 
meeting  at  J)r.  Messick's ;  the  next  day,  noon,  at 
Harrington's  Tavern  ;  at  night  at  Anlliony  (Jriffin's, 


112  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

on  Black  River.  We  recrossed  the  Wabash,  and 
commenced  the  Wabash  Quarterly-meeting,  Friday, 
May  6th,  at  Brother  Hannah's,  in  a  block-house, 
from  which  our  next  appointment  was  one  hundred 
and  seventy  or  eighty  miles  south-west  across  the 
Mississippi,  to  New  Madrid  Circuit,  Missouri  Ter- 
ritory, commencing  Friday,  the  13th ;  thence  sixty 
miles  north  to  Cape  Girardeau  Circuit,  May  20th. 
At  both  these  appointments,  and  all  subsequent  to 
them  through  the  Summer,  camp-meetings  were  held, 
the  necessity  for  which  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  no 
one-room,  or  even  twro-room,  log-cabin  (and  we  had 
no  other  sort  of  houses)  was  capable  of  entertaining 
one-half  or  even  one-fourth  of  Jesse  Walker's  quar- 
terly-meetings;  for  his  regular  Sabbath  congrega- 
tions collected,  far  and  near,  from  ten,  twenty,  or 
thirty  miles  around,  to  these  attractive  centers  of 
religious  services.  From  Cape  Girardeau  Brother 
Walker  proceeded,  by  himself,  to  hold  a  camp  and 
quarterly  meeting  on  Saline  Circuit,  commencing 
Friday,  27th;  on  the  Maramec  Circuit,  June  3d; 
Cold  Water,  10th  ;  and  Missouri  Circuit,  June  17th; 
to  which  appointment,  following  the  circuitous  route 
he  had  to  travel,  it  was  upwards  of  two  hundred 
miles  north ;  and  here,  on  Monday,  the  20th  of 
June,  he  concluded  his  second  round  of  meetings, 
about  eighty  miles  north-west  of  home,  and  sixty 
from  Goshen,  the  commencement  of  this  round, 
where  he  again  preached  in  returning  to  his  family, 
there  to  enjoy  a  few  day's  respite,  to  repair  his 
itinerant  gear,  and  prepare  for  the  still  more  exten- 
sive operations  of  the  Summer  campaign,  under  the 
more  favorable  auspices  of  shallow  streams,  better 


HARDSHIPS.  113 

roads,  longer  days,  and  the  sweltering  fervor  of  a 
July  sun. 

"  Such  labors  as  I  have  recounted  would,  in  these 
times  of  good  roads,  bridged  waters,  wealthy  friends, 
comfortable  accommodations,  and  table  luxuries,  be 
deemed  great ;  but  the  circumstances  under  which 
Jesse  Walker  performed  them  were  characterized  by 
difficulties,  dangers,  privations,  and  sufferings  almost 
inconceivable  in  the  present  improved  state  of 
things.  Our  roads  were  narrow,  winding  horse- 
paths, sometimes  scarcely  perceptible,  and  frequently 
for  miles  no  path  at  all,  amid  tangled  brushwood, 
over  fallen  timber,  rocky  glens,  mountainous  preci- 
pices ;  through  swamps  and  low  grounds,  overflowed 
or  saturated  with  water  for  miles  together,  and  con- 
sequently muddy,  which  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Winter  and  the  continued  rains  gave  a  continued 
supply  of;  the  streams  some  of  them  large  and 
rapid,  swollen  to  overflowing,  we  had  to  swim  on 
our  horses,  carrying  our  saddle-bags  on  our  shoul- 
ders. It  was  a  common  occurrence,  in  our  jour- 
neying, to  close  our  day's  ride  drenched  to  the  skin 
by  continually  descending  rains,  for  which  that 
Spring  was  remarkable.  Our  nights  were  spent, 
not  in  two  but  in  one  room  log-cabins,  each  gener- 
ally constituting  our  evening  meeting-bouse,  kitchen, 
nursery,  parlor,  dining  and  bed  room, — all  within 
the  dimensions  of  sixteen  feet  square,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  a  loom  occupying  one-fourth  of  it,  together 
with  spinning-wheels  and  other  apparatus  for  man- 
ufacturing their  apparel — -our  congregations  requir- 
ing our  services  till  ten  or  twelve  o'clock  ;  our  sup- 
10 


114         .          XETHODteX  IX  ILLINOIS. 


per  after  dismission,  not  of  select,  but  of  just  such 
aliment  as  our  hospitable  entertainer?  could  provide 
(for  hospitable,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word, 
they  were)^  ;  corn-cakes.,,  fried  bacon,  sometimes  but- 
ter, with  milk  or  herb-tea,  or  some  substitute  for 
coffee.  At  the  Rock  and  C'ave  camp-meeting,  the 
measles  being  very  prevalent  in  the  congregation,  I 
took  them.  Very  high  fevers  were  the  first  symp- 
tom ;  but,  unconscious  of  the  cause  aucl  nature  of 
my  affliction,  I  continued  traveling  through  all 
weathers  for  upwards  of  two  weeks,  before  the  com- 
plaint developed  its  character.  My  stomach  became 
very  delicate,  and  through  a  populous  port  of  our 
journey  I  inquired  for  coffee  at  every  house  we 
ptissed.  and  was  invariably  directed  to  Mr.  L/s,  sev- 
eral miles  ahead,  as  the  only  probable  place  for  the 
procurement  of  the  grateful  beverage.  On  making 
known  my  wants  to  Mrs.  L-,  she  searched  and  found 
a  few  scattered  grains  at  the  bottom  of  a  chest,  of 
which  she  made  us  two  cupfiils. 

"  We  have  sometimes  sat  in  the  large  fire-place, 
occupying  the  entire  end  of  a  log  cabin,  and  plucked 
from  out  the  smoke  of  the  chimney  above  us  pieces 
of  dried  and  smoked  venison,  or  jerk,  the  only  pro- 
vision the  place  could  afford  us,  and  the  only  food  the 
inmates  had  to  sustain  themselves,  till  they  could 
obtain  it  by  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  Our  horses 
fared  worse,  in  muddy  pens,  or  tied  up  to  saplings  or 
corners  of  the  cabin,  regaled  with  the  refuse  of  the 
Winters  fodder,  sometimes  (when  we  could  not  re- 
strain over-liberality)  with  seed-corn,  purchased  in 
Kentucky  at  a  dollar  per  bushel,  and  brought  in 


A  WINTER  TRIP.  115 

small  quantities,  according  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  purchaser,  one  hundred  miles  or  more  at  some 
expense  and  trouble.  This,  when  they  had  it,  our 
remonstrances  to  the  contrary  could  not  prevent 
being  pounded  in  mortars  to  make  us  bread.  Our 
lodgings  were  on  beds  of  various  qualities,  gener- 
ally- feather-beds,  but  not  unfrequently  fodder,  chaff, 
shucks,  straw,  and  sometimes  only  deer-skins,  but 
always  the  best  the  house  afforded,  either  spread  on 
the  rough  puncheon  floor  before  the  fire  (from  which 
we  must  rise  early  to  make  room  for  breakfast  oper- 
ations), or  on  a  patched-up  platform  attached  to  the 
wall,  which  not  unfrequently  would  fall  down,  some- 
times in  the  night,  with  its  triplicate  burden  of  three 
in  a  bed.  Such  incidents  would  occasion  a  little 
mirth  among  us,  but  we  would  soon  fix  up  and  be 
asleep  again.  Now,  I  would  here  remark,  that 
many  of  these  privations  could  have  been  avoided 
by  keeping  a  more  direct  course  from  one  quarterly- 
meeting  to  another,  and  selecting,  with  a  view  to 
comfort,  our  lodging-places.  But  Brother  Walker 
sought  not  personal  comfort  so  much  as  the  good 
of  souls,  and  he  sought  the  most  destitute,  in  their 
most  retired  recesses,  and  in  their  earliest  settle- 
ments." 

Severe  as  was  this  it  was  surpassed  by  a  trip  of 
Walker  and  Seripi>s  the  Winter  before.  Says  the 
latter: 

"  The  indefatigable  Walker  was  then  preparing 
for  a  Winter's  campaign  through  cold  and  storm 
and  snow  on  his  district,  extending  to  Vincennes 
and  Evaiisvillp,  Indiana,  So  inclement  was  the 


116  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

season  that  I  thought  it  dangerous  for  him  to  travel 
alone,  and  therefore  procured  substitutes  from  among 
my  equally  sympathizing  loeal  brethren  to  supply 
my  place  on  the  circuit  while  I  accompanied  him. 
The  weather,  on  this  tour,  was  in  general  intensely 
cold ;  nor  were  the  means  then  in  the  country  of 
procuring  habiliments  adequate  to  the  season,  as  at 
present.  The  prairies,  where  the  cold  north-easter 
raged  with  unchecked  fury,  were  settled  only  on 
their  margins;  and,  at  whatever  time  of  day  we 
entered  on  one,  however  extensive,  we  could  have 
no  comfortable  hope  of  seeing  a  fire,  or  shelter  from 
the  most  pitiless  storm,  till  we  had  crossed  it.  On 
one  occasion  we  entered  a  twelve-mile  prairie  at  about 
four  o'clock  in  the  evening,  with  our  upper  gar- 
ments completely  saturated — the  effects  of  an  after- 
noon's hard  rain.  At  about  five  o'clock  the  wind 
changed  and  the  residue  of  our  way  we  traveled  in 
a  sleet,  or  rather,  more  literally,  a  storm  of  ice, 
while  the  darkness  of  the  night  compelled  us  to 
yield  the  reins  to  our  horses;  and,  on  our  arrival 
at  the  house  we  were  obliged  to  require  assistance 
to  help  us  off  our  horses,  as  our  clothes  were  so  in- 
flexible with  ice  that  we  could  scarcely  move  in 
them,  and  could  not,  without  help,  have  dismounted. 
But,  if  the  cold  was  uncomfortable,  the  thaws  were 
more  dreaded,  as  more  dangerous,  by  flooding  the 
streams.  In  one  of  these  thaws  .we  came  to  a  large 
stream,  the  ice  on  which  was  sufficiently  strong  to 
have  borne  us ;  but,  raised  by  the  flood  and  thawed 
next  the  shore,  we  could  not  get  our  horses  on  it. 
In  meandering  the  stream  in  quest  of  a  more  pro- 


AT  A  TAVERN.  117 

pitious  place  to  cross,  we  found  one  where  the  lower 
ice  had  been  separated  by  the  flood  from  the  upper, 
leaving  between  the  two -a  space  of  about  three  feet. 
Not  knowing  whether  the  stream  here  was  swim- 
ming or  not,  with  some  difficulty  I  restrained  Brother 
Walker  from  going  foremost,  while  I  precipitated 
myself  and  horse,  by  sliding  down  an  almost  per- 
pendicular bank,  into  the  water.  He  followed  close 
behind.  It  was  very  deep,  but  fordable;  and,  while 
scrambling  up  the  opposite  bank,  we  barely  escaped; 
the  whole  mass,  loosened  from  above,  jammed  with 
a  violent  concussion  against  the  lower,  and  the  whole 
rushed  on  with  the  stream. 

"  After  closing  a  very  fatiguing  and  disagreeable 
day's  ride,  on  the  eighth  of  February,  we  put  up 
at  the  Ohio  Saline  Tavern,  a  center  of  resort  for  all 
the  young  bucks  and  other  more  exceptionable  char- 
acters of  a  dissolute  community.  After  supper  we 
were  favored  with  a  separate  room  and  a  cheerful 
fire.  A  privilege  so  seldom  enjoyed,  we  thought  to 
improve  by  a  recourse  to  Wesley's  Notes  (by  the 
by,  the  only  commentary  we  had  access  to  in  those 
days  in  our  far  West) ;  but  we  were  scarcely  seated, 
before  a  fiddle  in  an  adjoining  room  struck  up  a 
solemn  tune  of  sacred  music,  followed  by  livelier 
and  still  more  lively  airs,  hurrying  onward  to 
catches,  jigs,  glees,  and  still  more  exceptionable 
music,  with  an  accompaniment,  at  first,  of  sup- 
pressed titters,  but  rising  with  the  music  to  loudest 
bursts  of  uproarionsness.  Being  satisfied,  in  my  own 
mind,  that  they  were  peepers,  anxious  to  witness 
the  effects  of  the  unhallowed  sounds  on  the  preach- 


118  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

ers,  I  wished  my  companion  not  to  seem  to  notice 
it,  but  in  vain.  He  either  could  not,  or  would  not, 
restrain  his  feelings.  He  laid  aside  his  book  and 
appeared  engaged  in  silent  and  devout  ejaculations 
till,  an  opportunity  offering,  by  the  landlord's  com- 
ing into  our  room,  he  asked  him  to  request  these 
merry  gentlemen  to  suspend  their  mirth  a  few  min- 
utes, and  to  invite  them  in  for  worship  before  we 
should  retire  for  repose.  I  believe  they  all — a  large 
company — acceded  to  the  request,  accepted  the  in- 
vitation, and  behaved  with  the  greatest  decorum, 
while  Brother  Walker  very  appropriately  read  and 
paraphrased  a  chapter,  gave  out  and  sang  a  hymn 
(in  which  most  that  could  sing,  joined),  and  then, 
in  a  most  fervent  prayer,  acknowledged  the  mercies 
of  the  day,  and  implored  the  pardon  of  all  offenses, 
and  supplicated  the  Divine  protection  through  the 
night.  All  kneeled,  and  some  of  them  remained 
after  the  services,  in  interesting  and  profitable  con- 
versation, until  late  bed-time,  and  no  further  dis- 
cordant sounds  annoyed  us." 

JOHN  SCRIPPS  was  a  native  of  England,  having 
been  born  in  London,  August  26th,  1785.  When 
he  was  six  years  old  his  father  removed  to  America, 
settling  first  at  Alexandria,  and  afterwards  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Morgantown,  Virginia.  John,  who 
was  a  sickly  child,  was  not  sent  to  school,  but  was 
allowed  to  avail  himself  of  his  father's  excellent 
library,  which  he  did  to  such  advantage  that,  when 
in  his  twentieth  year  he  entered  the  Virginia  Acad- 
emy, with  the  exception  of  the  dead  languages,  he 
was  found  the  best  scholar  in  the  institution.  On 


JOHN  SCRIP  PS.  119 

his  eighth  birthday,  under  the  direction  of  his 
mother,  he  began  reading  the  Scriptures  consecu- 
tively— a  practice  which  he  kept  up  as  long  as  he 
lived.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  this,  he  early  imbibed 
infidel  notions,  of  which  he  did  not  get  rid  until 
he  read  "  Grotius  on  the  Truth  of  the  Christian 
Religion."  He  now  became  a  firm  believer  in  the 
truth  of  Christianity,  and  united  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  of  which  his  mother  had  already 
become  a  member.  But  he  could  never  give  the 
exact  date  of  his  conversion.  In  1809  he  removed 
to  Cape  Girardeau,  Missouri,  and  established  a  tan- 
yard.  He  was  soon  after  made  class-leader,  and 
was  then  given  license  to  exhort,  and  afterwards 
to  preach.  In  the  Fall  of  1814  he  was  employed 
by  the  presiding  elder  to  travel  the  Illinois  Circuit 
whilst  the  preachers  went  to  conference;  and  on  their 
return  found,  to  his  surprise — for  he  had  not  been 
consulted — that  he  had  been  received  into  the  con- 
ference and  appointed  to  Patoka  Circuit,  in  Indiana. 
He  went  to  his  charge,  however,  resolved  to  do  his 
duty.  Up  to  this  time  no  society  had  been  formed 
in  Columbia,  the  only  town  in  his  circuit ;  but  Mr. 
Scripps  not  only  formed  a  class  there,  but  extended 
his  circuit  so  as  to  include  Evansville,  on  the  Ohio 
River,  where  he  also  formed  a  good  society,  in  which 
nearly  every  family  in  town  was  represented.  In 
1815  he  was  appointed  to  the  Illinois  Circuit,  to 
which,  as  stated  above,  the  Okaw  Circuit  was  at- 
tached. In  it  was  Kaskaskia,  the  capital  of  the 
Territory,  which  Mr.  Scripps  made  ore  of  his 
preaching-places,  and  where  he  had  good  success. 


120  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  he  had  to  prepare  for  the 
session  of  the  newly  formed  Missouri  Conference, 
which  was  to  be  held  at  Shiloh,  in  his  circuit.  He 
was  to  meet  Bishop  McKcndree  at  a  camp-meeting 
near  Vincennes,  to  conduct  him  to  the  seat  of  the 
conference.  But,  instead  of  taking  the  circuitous 
route  down  the  Mississippi  and  up  the  Ohio  and 
Wabash,  which  was  usually  taken  in  order  to  avoid 
danger  from  the  Indians  and  keep  within  the  set- 
tlements, Mr.  Scripps  resolved  to  take  a  straight 
course  for  Vincennes,  though  it  would  compel  him 
to  travel  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  through  a 
country  infested  with  Indians  and  uninhabited  by 
a  single  white  settler.  In  company  with  several 
others,  he  made  the  trip  in  safety,  preached  four 
times  at  the  camp-meeting,  and  then  returned  by 
the  same  route  with  the  bishop,  starting  from  the 
camp-ground  on  Tuesday  and  reaching  Shiloh  on 
Saturday,  after  resting  four  nights  under  the  open 
canopy  of  heaven.  Before  this,  Mr.  Scripps  had' 
often  doubted  his  call  to  the  ministry ;  but  after 
conversing  with  Bishop  McKendrec  on  the  subject 
whilst  on  this  trip,  the  bishop  told  him  that  if  John 
Scripps  had  not  been  called  to  preach,  neither  had 
AVilliam  McKendree.  After  the  first  session  of  the 
Missouri  Conference,  Mr.  Scripps  was  its  secretary 
until  the  formation  of  the  Illinois  Conference,  in 
1824.  In  1816  he  was  appointed  to  Coldwater, 
afterwards  called  St.  Louis  Circuit.  He  took  the 
city  into  his  charge,  nnd  made  his  debut  in  an  old, 
dilapidated  log  building  used  as  the  court-house, 
legislative  hall,  and  theater,  which  was  the  only 


SUPERANNUATED.  121 

public  building  in  the  place,  except  the  Roman 
Catholic  cathedral.  He  stood  on  the  stage,  sur- 
rounded by  the  comic  scenery,  and  preached  to  a 
large  and  attentive  audience,  composing  the  entire 
American  population.  He  continued  to  preach 
there  and  in  a  school-house,  which  was  built  during 
the  year;  but  his  successors  abandoned  the  place, 
and  there  was  no  more  Methodist  preaching  in  St. 
Louis  until  Jesse  Walker  re-established  it  in  1820. 
During  this  year  Mr.  Scripps  visited  Kaskaskia, 
where  he  had  preached  the  year  before.  He  was  in 
rough  pioneer  costume,  with  knees,  toes,  and  elbows 
out.  Two  other  well-dressed  missionaries  from  the 
East  were  in  the  place.  But  when  the  time  for 
preaching  came,  Governor  Edwards  selected  Mr. 
Scripps,  who  had  been  tried,  in  preference  to  the 
untried  strangers,  and  put  him  in  the  sheriff's  box, 
a  small  platform  above  the  heads  of  the  audience, 
for  a  pulpit.  His  next  appointment  was  Boonslick. 
In  1818  he  was  sent  to  Cape  Girardeau,  in  1819  to 
Boonslick  and  Lamoine,  and  in  1820  to  Blue  River. 
For  the  two  following  years  he  was  on  the  Arkan- 
sas District,  and  in  1823  on  the  St.  Louis  Circuit. 
At  the  close  of  the  year,  his  health  having  failed, 
he  was  granted  a  superannuated  relation  to  the  Mis- 
souri Conference,  in  which  he  continued  until  the 
division  of  the  Church  in  1845.  Refusing  to  go 
South  with  his  conference,  he  was  transferred  to  the 
Illinois  Conference  in  1846,  and  placed  on  the  su- 
perannuated list,  and  continued  in  it  until  1850, 
when  he  withdrew  from  the  Church.  In  1854  he 

reunited  with  the  Church,  was  restored  to  the  inin- 
11 


122  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

istry,  and  remained  a  local  preacher  until  his  death, 
July  26,  1865.  He  was  a  member  of  the  General 
Conferences  of  1820  and  1824. 

Soon  after  his  superannuation  he  married  Miss 
Agnes  Corrie,  of  whose  conversion  an  account  is 
given  in  the  history  of  1820.  In  1825  he  settled 
in  Jackson  the  county-seat  of  Cape  Girardeau 
County,  Missouri,  and  engaged  in  the  mercantile 
business.  But,  being  unwilling  to  lead  his  children 
into  temptation  by  bringing  them  up  in  a  slave 
State,  in  1830  he  removed  to  Illinois,  and  settled 
in  Rushville,  where  for  a  time  he  engaged  in  mer- 
chandising. He  afterwards  published  a  county 
paper,  and  held  several  county  and  township  offices. 
Soon  after  his  removal  to  Rushville  he  organized  a 
Sunday-school,  of  which  he  was  superintendent  for 
seventeen  years,  and  was  afterwards  a  teacher  in  it 
for  ten  years. 

Mr.  Scripps  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary 
ability.  Small  in  stature,  he  was  yet  possessed  of 
remarkable  energy  and  determination.  Sometimes, 
indeed,  the  strength  of  his  will  and  his  adherence 
to  his  own  convictions  of  right  impressed  others 
with  the  belief  that  he  was  obstinate,  and  occasion- 
ally brought  him  into  collision  with  his  pastors  or 
presiding  elders.  He  could  not  endure  oppression 
in  any  form,  nor  would  he  submit  to  be  dictated  to 
by  others.  Having  made  up  his  mind  in  regard  to 
right  or  duty,  it  was  with  difficulty  he  could  be  in- 
duced to  change  his  course,  and  the  slightest  exer- 
cise of  compulsion  would  excite  in  him  the  most 
determined  opposition.  Having  done  so  much  to 


CHURCH  RELATIONS.  123 

build  up  Methodism  in  Rushville,  having  shown 
his  love  to  the  Church  by  a  life  of  labor  and  sacri- 
fice in  her  behalf,  and  having  a  vastly  wider  expe- 
rience than  most  of  those  appointed  as  pastors  of 
the  Church  there,  he  felt  that  his  views  of  Church 
polity  were  entitled  to  some  consideration  from 
them, — more,  indeed,  than  they  were  always  dis- 
posed to  give  them. 

At  the  conference  of  1848  his  character  was 
arrested  on  the  ground  that  he  had  imprudently 
indulged  in  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  The 
matter  was  referred  to  his  presiding  elder,  Dr.  Akers, 
who  investigated  it,  and  concluded  that  there  was 
no  ground  of  complaint  in  the  case.  Mr.  Scripps, 
on  the  recommendation  of  his  physician  and  for  a 
disease  from  which  he  suffered  greatly,  and  which 
eventually  caused  his  death,  did  of  necessity  use 
spirituous  liquors,  but  only  as  a  medicine.  And  so 
well  satisfied  was  the  presiding  elder  of  the  ground- 
lessness of  the  charge,  that  he  employed  him  for 
six  months  of  the  year  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  sta- 
tion where  he  lived.  But  in  1850  his  pastor,  W. 
W.  Mitchell,  took  such  strong  ground  in  opposi- 
tion to  him  that  he  withdrew  from  the  Church,  and 
surrendered  his  ordination  parchments  to  the  con- 
ference. Yet,  during  the  four  years  in  which  he 
was  out  of  the  Church,  he  kept  up  the  family  altar, 
and  attended  to  all  the  outward  duties  of  religion ; 
and  was  frequently  called  on  to  officiate  at  funerals. 
After  his  reunion  with  the  Church  he  seems  to  have 
become  much  more  spiritual,  and  in  March,  1860, 
he  writes  in  his  journal:  "This  month  T  obtained 


124  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

a  second  blessing."  Mr.  Seripps  "  possessed  an  iron 
will,  never  tired  till  his  object  was  accomplished, 
and  clung  to  his  opinions  with  a  tenacity  that  com- 
manded admiration,  if  not  assent.  Self-educated,  a 
close  student  in  early  life,  he  maintained  the  same 
habit  to  the  close  of  his  days.  While  a  mere  boy 
in  the  wilds  of  Virginia,  with  no  schools  and  but 
few  facilities  for  acquiring  knowledge,  he  com- 
menced the  work  of  self-instruction,  and  though  his 
time  was  all  occupied  in  labor,  except  at  night  and 
on  the  Sabbath,  yet,  by  the  light  descending  through 
an  old-fashioned  chimney  by  day  and  pine  splinters 
by  night,  he  learned  to  write  by  epitomizing  two 
large  volumes  of  the  History  of  Rome.  A  careful 
observer  of  particulars  and  generals,  with  a  strong, 
retentive  memory,  the  incidents  of  his  early  career 
were  ever  fresh  in  his  mind  in  all  their  details,  thus 
rendering  him  a  most  delightful  companion.  In- 
dustrious and  methodical  in  all  his  habits,  both  sec- 
ular and  religious,  he  accomplished  an  amount  of 
labor  equaled  by  fe'w,  and  surpassed  by  fewer  still. 
Given  to  hospitality,  with  enlarged  Christian  benev- 
olence, much  of  his  time  and  means  were  employed 
for  the  good  of  others,  and  many  a  young  man  has 
gone  forth  to  bless  the  world  who  owes  his  aspira- 
tions and  success  in  life  to  the  early  and  long-con- 
tinued training  received  from  him."3 

Dr.  Stevenson  well  says  of  him:  "To  an  intel- 
lect naturally  vigorous  there  was  added  a  culture 
that  was  extensive,  accurate,  and  intensely  practical. 
A  close  and  critical  examination  of  his  numerous 


sSchuyler  Citifeen. 


HIS  DEA  TH.  125 

papers  failed  to  discover  a  misspelled  word,  a  sen- 
tence faulty  in  construction,  or  a  sentiment  that  would 
not  bear  the  closest  scrutiny." 

To  his  pastor  and  other  friends,  who  were  with 
him  in  his  last  moments,  he  expressed  himself  as 
assured  of  a  blissful  immortality.  A  short  time 
before  his  death  he  called  his  family  around  his 
bedside,  gave  to  each  of  them  his  dying  admonition, 
bade  them  an  affectionate  farewell,  and  then,  in  full 
possession  of  his  mental  faculties,  quietly  sank  to 
rest  in  Jesus  his  Savior. 

He  was  a  careful  observer  and  faithful  recorder 
of  passing  events.  He  was  a  good  preacher,  his  ser- 
mons being  always  thoroughly  evangelical  and  in- 
dicative of  much  thought.  In  doctrine  he  was 
sound.  He  was  very  fluent  in  conversation  ;  and 
his  habits  of  close  observation  and  his  very  reten- 
tive memory,  made  him,  in  his  old  age,  one  of  the 
most  delightful  of  companions.  He  was  an  excel- 
lent business  man,  careful,  correct,  and  yet  prompt 
and  ready.  The  writer  knew  him  well  during  the 
last  years  of  his  life,  being  often  entertained  by 
him  at  his  quarterly  visitations  to  Rushville,  and 
learned  to  esteem  him  highly  for  his  intelligence, 
geniality,  and  piety.  He  had  the  sad  privilege  of 
visiting  him  on  his  death-bed  and  preaching  at 
his  funeral.  He  died  well,  in  the  full  faith  of  the 
Gospel. 

One  of  his  contemporaries  and  fellow  itinerants, 
Rev.  John  Hogan,  thus  writes  of  him:  "I  have 
been  acquainted  with  him  for  many  years.  I  have 
traveled  several  circuits  that  had  been  traveled  long 


126  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

before  by  John  Scripps,  and  the  recollections  of. 
him  by  all  the  people  were  very  vivid  and  pleas- 
ant. He  was  very  strict  and  particular  in  all  the 
minutia?  of  a  Methodist  preacher's  diity.  I  have 
often  been  shown,  as  a  relic,  treasured  by  the  old 
class-leaders,  the  class  papers  prepared  by  Brother 
Scripps.  How  singularly  neat  they  were!  He 
wrote  a  beautiful,  plain  hand.  He  made  no  flour- 
ishes, no  extras,  every  thing  so  clean  and  neat;  and 
then,  the  state  of  life  and  state  of  grace  were  so 
particularly  noted  ;  the  attendance  on  the  means  of 
grace  regularly  noted  ;  and,  on  the  front  leaf,  clearly 
written  out,  the  disciplinary  requirements  as  to  the 
regular  quarterly  fast.  He  was  very  careful  to  have 
all  these  matters  regularly  attended  to.  This  was 
his  method. 

"  In  his  day  there  were  but  few  public  roads,  and 
in  most  places  not  even  a  pathway  from  one  settle- 
ment to  another.  Sometimes  the  preachers  traveled 
by  the  use  of  the  pocket-compass.  Sometimes  they 
took  along  a  little  hatchet,  and,  being  shown  the 
way,  blazed  or  notched  the  trees  to  point  out  the 
road,  or  rather  course,  afterwards.  John  Scripps 
had  a  sharp  iron  with  which  he  would  scratch  the 
trees  in  the  course  he  was  to  pursue  in  going  from 
one  appointment  to  another.  And  these  remained 
plain  for  years  afterwards.  When  the  trees  had  not 
been  disturbed,  I  have  often  followed  those  marks 
upon  such  parts  of  his  original  circuits  as  remained 
in  my  bounds.  I  have  heard  many  anecdotes  of  his 
manner  of  preaching,  of  study,  and  devotion  to  his 
work.  The  people  loved  him,  and  his  ministry  was 


DANIEL  MCHENRY.  127 

profitable  to  them,  and  his  memorial  was  written  on 
their  hearts.  No  wonder,  then,  that  his  memory 
was  cherished,  and  that  they  loved  to  speak  of  his 
work  of  faith  and  his  labors  of  love." 

Of  DANIEL  McHENRY,  who  traveled  the  Wa- 
bash  Circuit  this  year,  we  have  no  other  account 
than  his  appointments  in  the  General  Minutes. 
He  had  just  been  received  into  the  Tennessee  Con- 
ference, and  this  was  his  first  appointment.  The 
next  year  he  was  sent  to  Patoka;  in  1817  he  again 
traveled  the  Wabash  Circuit;  in  1818  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  Patoka  and  Pigeon,  in  1819  to  Vin- 
cennes,  and  at  the  next  session  he  located,  and  set- 
tled near  Carmi,  Illinois. 

During  the  four  years  in  which  Illinois  was  con- 
nected with  the  Tennessee  Conference,  the  member- 
ship had  increased  from  seven  hundred  and  sixty- 
two  to  nine  hundred  and  sixty-eight,  and  the 
appointments  from  two  to  five. 


PART  III. 


IN  THE  MISSOURI  CONFERENCE. 


1816  to  1823. 


Part   III. 

IN  THE  MISSOURI  CONFERENCE. 

1816  to  1823. 


I. 

1816. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT— Samuel  H.  Thompson,  P.  E. 

Illinois— Jesse  Haile. 

Okato— Jacob  Whitesides. 

Cash  River  and  Btgbay—Josi&h  Patterson,  Wm.  Jones. 

Wabash — John  Harris. 

THE  first  session  of  the  Missouri  Conference 
was  held  at  Shiloh,  St.  Cluir  County,  Illinois, 
beginning  September  23d.  Bishop  McKendree  pre- 
sided, and  John  C.  Harbison  was  secretary.  Sev- 
eral changes  were  made  in  the  work  in  Illinois,  both 
in  the  'circuits  and  the  men.  The  Cash  River  and 
Bigbay  Circuits  were  united  and  two  preachers  sent 
to  it,  so  that  the  five  charges  of  the  year  before 
were  reduced  to  four  this  year.  Of  the  preachers 
laboring  in  the  Territory,  Josiah  Patterson  was  the 
only  one  who  had  traveled  in  it  before;  all  the 
others  were  new  men. 

The  presiding  elder,  SAMUEL  H.  THOMPSON, 
who  from  this  time  occupies  a  prominent  position 
in  connection  with  Illinois  Methodism,  was  born  in 


..  •-::.    .  _•  t  ..    >. 


Hs* 


n  ter 


1 

--- 

- 


.-  • .  - 

:  -_. 


Diarirt.  Mi  *c 


errd  all  Ac  MJnliili  li  pate  «f 

m  1819  the  Ufaar  CiniL    F«r  the  Mat  TO 

1:       - 


wiskitae 


&•**•£  life 


B^*^^V^*Z      *Laa^^>L    ««I^J     ^^J    ^M^tf      ^^^Jx   ^V  >B^^i^E_ 

«H.    His  ldb«*«e  en**  Ut»L»iAeie 


334  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

ecring  act."  Fortunately,  perhaps,  for  him,  he  was 
not  elected. 

His  health  having  failed  through  his  incessant 
labors,  he  was  granted  a  supernumerary  relation  at 
the  conference  of  1826,  and  for  the  two  following 
years  he  served  as  such  on  the  Illinois  Circuit. 
The  next  year  he  traveled  the  Shoal  Creek  Circuit; 
in  1829  he  was  appointed  to  the  Kaskaskia  District, 
which  he  traveled  for  three  years;  in  1832  he  served 
as  agent  for  the  newly  established  Lebanon  Semi- 
nary (afterwards  McKendree  College),  and  the  next 
year  he  was  on  the  Lebanon  Circuit.  In  1834  he 
was  appointed  to  Vandalia,  but  at  the  close  of  the 
year  was  placed  on  the  superannuated  list.  The 
next  year  his  position  was  changed  to  supernumer- 
ary, and  as  such  he  labored  as  he  could  on  Van- 
dalia and  Hillsboro,  Lower  Alton  and  Belleville 
charges  successively.  But  his  health  having  failed 
completely,  in  1841  he  was  again  placed  on  the  su- 
perannuated list,  and  on  March  19th  of  the  next 
year  he  was  released  from  his  sufferings  by  death. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  a  man  of  fine  personal  ap- 
pearance, and  in  manners  was  the  polished  Chris- 
tian gentleman.  He  was  possessed  of  fine  social 
qualities,  and  was  an  admirable  conversationalist. 
As  a  preacher  he  was  very  popular.  His  style  was 
rather  hortatory  than  didactic,  and  his  discourses 
abounded  in  anecdote  and  illustration.  He  seemed, 
indeed,  to  possess  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  anec- 
dotes, and  could  tell  them  with  a  grace  and  force 
that  impressed  strongly  those  who  heard  him.  He 
was  very  sympathetic,  and,  like  Jeremiah,  his  head 


HIS  CHARACTER.        .  135 

was  a  fountain  of  tears.  His  sweet  spirit  endeared 
him  to  all  who  knew  him.  No  member  of  confer- 
ence was  more  highly  esteemed  by  his  brethren 
than  he.  He  was  five  times  elected  by  them  to  the 
General  Conference,  twice  from  the  Missouri,  and 
three  times  from  the  Illinois  Conference,  and  at  the 
session  of  the  latter  at  Vincennes,  in  1830,  no  bishop 
being  present,  Mr.  Thompson  was  unanimously  called 
to  the  chair;  and  from  the  journal  it  appears  that 
the  business  was  transacted  with  as  much  dispatch 
and  correctness  as  though  under  the  direction  of  a 
bishop.  He  was  for  many  years  the  leading  spirit 
in  the  conference,  serving  on  the  most  important 
committees,  and  impressing  himself  upon  the  whole 
body.  Dr.  Redford  says  of  him,  "  He  was  one  of 
the  most  indefatigable  preachers  of  his  day.  And 
to  the  labors  of  no  preacher  is  the  Church  in  Illi- 
nois more  indebted  than  to  Mr.  Thompson."  His 
memoir  in  the  General  Minutes  says : 

"  While  his  zeal  for  the  divine  law  and  his  love 
for  the  souls  of  men  impelled  him  to  express  his 
disapprobation  of  every  form  of  moral  evil,  and 
fearlessly  to  administer  the  discipline  of  the  Church, 
the  exquisite  sensibility  of  his  own  feelings  made 
him  a  model  of  courtesy  to  all  men,  and  tempered 
the  edge  of  his  reproof  with  the  most  aifectionate 
tenderness.  The  duty  of  praying  with  his  family 
was  never,  after  his  marriage,  omitted  by  him  but 
once;  and  so  highly  did  he  value  the  privilege  of 
uniting  with  them  around  the  domestic  altar,  that 
he  uniformly  requested  whoever  might  be  a  visitant 
at  his  house  to  permit  him  once  a  day  to  lead  in 


136  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

their  devotions.  Eminently  a  man  of  peace  him- 
self, he  breathed  the  peaceful  spirit  of  Christianity 
everywhere  around  him;  and  especially  upon  his 
family,  and  upon  the  Church  in  his  vicinity,  he 
impressed  this  characteristic  mark  of  Christianity 
in  a  very  high  degree.  Full  of  sympathy,  his  gen- 
erosity and  hospitality  abounded  toward  all  men, 
but  especially  toward  that  body  of  men  in  con- 
nection with  whom  he  had  suffered  so  much  in  the 
cause  of  their  common  Master.  A  few  days  before 
his  death  God  was  pleased  to  give  him  such  a  view 
of  the  heavenly  world  as  filled  his  soul  with  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory ;  and  he  continued  until 
his  death  glorying  in  tribulation,  and  rejoicing  in 
hope  of  the  glory  of  God." 

The  following  confirms  what  is  said  in  his  me- 
moir in  regard  to  his  attachment  to  family  prayer. 
As  Mr.  Bcggs  was  on  his  way  from  his  father's  in 
Indiana  to  his  circuit  in  Missouri,  to  which  he  had 
been  appointed  from  the  conference  of  1823,  he 
says :  "  I  was  not  a  little  comforted  to  meet  Brother 
Samuel  H.  Thompson,  presiding  elder  of  Illinois 
District,  late  one  evening  on  his  way  to  a  quarterly- 
meeting.  He  insisted  on  my  stopping  over  night 
with  him.  After  some  religious  conversation,  in 
which  he  gave  me  very  good  advice,  he  led  the  fam- 
ily prayers,  in  which  he  remembered  not  only  me, 
but  my  horse,  suggesting  what  Mr.  Wesley  said,  that 
when  he  prayed  for  his  horse  he  never  lost  any. 
He  then  gave  me  a  way-bill  to  my  circuit,  being 
acquainted  with  the  whole  five  hundred  miles  I  had 
to  travel." 


"  BEGGAR  GENERAL."  137 

Mr.  Thompson  excelled  in  raising  funds  for 
Church  and  benevolent  objects,  and  was  so  fre- 
quently engaged  in  that  work  that  he  was  called  by 
some  "  the  beggar  general."  Says  Mr.  Beggs : 
"  His  strong  appeals  were  almost  resistless.  On  one 
occasion  he  closed  his  appeal  by  telling  the  people 
to  come  forward  and  lay  their  oiferings  on  the  table. 
Among  those  who  responded  was  a  gentleman  who 
put  his  hand  deep  into  his  pocket,  and  took  out  a 
handful  of  silver  to  get  some  change.  Thompson 
saw  him,  and,  as  if  supposing  that  he  intended  to  lay 
all  upon  the  table,  exclaimed  at  the  top  of  his  voice, 
' Thank  God  for  one  liberal  soul!'  By  this  time 
all  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  '  liberal '  gentleman,  who 
could  not  help  laying  down  the  entire  handful.  But 
Thompson  illustrated  his  precept  in  this  respect  by 
example.  He  generally  headed  the  contribution, 
and  so  generous  was  he  in  his  offerings  that  he  not 
unfrequently  had  to  borrow  money  to  get  home 
wifh.  The  liberality  of  the  Methodist  preachers 
was  remarkable.  Giving  beyond  their  means,  they 
yet  realized  it  was  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive." 

"Brother  Thompson,"  says  Cartwright,  "  labored 
hard  and  suffered  much  for  more  than  thirty  years. 
His  field  of  labor  for  these  years  embraced  large 
portions  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Tennessee,  Kentucky, 
Illinois,  Missouri,  and  Arkansas  States,  most  of 
which  was  new  and  on  the  outskirts  of  civilization, 
destitute  of  means  of  comfortable  support,  In  these 
respects  his'  zeal,  like  a  quenchless  fire,  urged  him 
on  night  and  day,  over  desert  wastes,  towering 
12 


138  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

mountains,  rapid  rivers.  He  often  suffered  hunger 
and  almost  nakedness  in  quest  of  lost  and  wander- 
ing sinners,  to  bring  them  back  to  God;  and  thou- 
sands now  in  heaven  will  praise  God  forever  that 
this  self-sacrificing  Methodist  preacher  taught  them 
the  way  to  life  in  their  mud  hovels  and  smoky 
cabins.  The  last  year  of  his  eventful  life  his  health 
almost  entirely  gave  way,  and  while  confined  to  his 
bed,  from  which  he  never  rose,  such  was  his  ardent 
thirst  for  the  salvation  of  souls  that  he  requested  to 
call  in  the  neighbors,  and  to  be  propped  up  in  his 
bed,  and  to  preach  one  more  sermon  to  them  before 
he  left  for  heaven.  His  desire  was  granted ;  the 
room  was  crowded,  and  such  a  sermon  hardly  ever 
fell  from  the  lips  of  mortal  man.  The  power  of 
God  fell  on  the  congregation ;  they  wept  aloud,  and 
fell  in  every  direction ;  and  many  will  date  their 
start  for  heaven  from  that  sermon.  And  now,  hav- 
ing delivered  his  last  message,  he  said  :  '  My  work 
is  done,  and  I  am  ready  to  go  at  my  Master's 
bidding.'" 

After  his  superannuation  he  was  appointed  re- 
ceiver at  the  United  States  land  office  at  Edwards- 
ville,  and  retained  that  position  until  his  death. 

Of  the  early  history  and  conversion  of  JESSE 
HAILE,  who  this  year  traveled  the  Illinois  Circuit, 
we  have  no  information.  He  sought  admission  to 
the  Tennessee  Conference  of  1812,  but  for  some 
cause  was  not  received.  He  then  bought  a  rifle,  and 
proposed  to  enter  into  the  service  of  his  country  in 
the  war  with  Great  Britain,  saying  that  in  serving 
his  country  he  would  be  in  the  service  of  God  and 


JESSE  HAILE.  139 

his  fellow-men.  In  1813  he  was  received  on  trial 
in  the  Tennessee  Conference,  and  appointed  to  Mis- 
souri Circuit,  which  he  traveled  for  two  years.  In 
1815  he  was  sent  to  Cape  Girardeau,  and  in  1816 
to  the  Illinois  Circuit,  which  he  also  traveled  two 
years.  The  next  year  he  was  on  the  Illinois  Dis- 
trict, and  the  following  year  on  the  Missouri  Dis- 
trict. In  1820  he  was  appointed  to  New  Madrid, 
in  1821  to  Shoal  Creek,  and  in  1822  to  the  Illinois 
Circuit  again.  The  next  year  he  was  sent  to  Indi- 
anapolis Circuit,  in  1824  he  was  again  appointed  to 
the  Missouri  District,  and  for  the  four  following 
years  he  traveled  the  Arkansas  District.  In  1827 
he  was  transferred  to  the  Illinois  Conference,  and 
appointed  to  Bloomington  Circuit,  Indiana.  S.  R. 
Beggs  was  his  colleague  for  three-quarters  of  this 
year,  and  he  speaks  of  it  as  a  prosperous  year,  with 
a  number  of  conversions.  The  preachers  visited  sev- 
eral camp-meetings,  everywhere  meeting  with  great 
success.  Each  of  them  received  his  full  allowance 
of  quarterage  ($100)  from  the  charge.  The  next 
year  Mr.  Haile  was  sent  to  Sangamon  Circuit,  the 
next  year  to  Paris,  the  next  to  Pekin,  and  in  1833 
was  placed  on  the  superannuated  list.  The  year 
following  he  was  appointed  to  Carrollton;  but,  his 
health  being  still  insufficient,  he  was  again  for  two 
years  kept  in  the  relation  of  a  superannuate.  In 
1837  his  relation  was"  changed  to  supernumerary, 
and  he  was  appointed  to  Carlisle,  in  1838  to  Hills- 
boro,  and  in  1839  to  Shelbyvillc.  His  appointment 
in  1840  was  Big  Creek,  in  1841  Ncwhaven,  in  1842 
Livingston,  and  in  1843  Paris.  This  was  his  last 


140  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

appointment.  He  died  at  Nashville,  Illinois,  just 
after  the  session  of  conference  of  1844.  His  end 
was  peace.  His  memoir  in  the  General  Minutes 
says :  "  On  all  of  the  above  fields  Brother  Haile 
labored  faithfully  and  usefully,  and  we  know  not 
that  any  wrong  was  ever  charged  against  him.  He 
was  a  good,  plain,  pointed,  and  practical  preacher 
and  minister,  and  studied  to  do  every  thing  by  rule 
and  at  the  time.  The  circuits  he  traveled  in  the 
early  part  of  his  itinerancy  embraced  extensive  ter- 
ritory, thinly  peopled,  in  which  he  endured  much 
fatigue  and  exposure,  but  was  never  known  to  say, 
'My  work  is  hard.'  " 

"  Mr.  Haile  was  a  man  of  medium  size,  always 
grave  and  dignified  in  his  bearing.  He  was  seldom 
known  to  laugh,  but  his  countenance  would  give 
out  an  expression  of  inward  pleasure.  He  was  quite 
polite  in  his  manners,  and,  though  a  man  of  few 
words,  his  conversation  was  always  interesting.  He 
was  never  light  or  trifling  in  word  or  manner,  nor 
could  any  one  indulge  in  levity  in  his  presence. 
As  a  preacher,  he  was  sensible  and  instructive,  un- 
derstanding well  his  subjects,  and  discussing  them 
with  system.  In  the  pulpit  he  was  always  dignified 
and  self-possessed,  speaking  as  though  conscious 
that  he  had  authority.  He  was  a  very  modest  man, 
as  far  as  possible  from  self-seeking,  accepting  with- 
out a  murmur  whatever  the  Church  gave  him  to 
do,  and  doing  it  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  He  never 
made  any  attempt  to  accumulate  property.  It  is 
said,  though  this  must  be  a  mistake,  that  he  owned 
but  two  horses  during  his  long  career  as  a  traveling 


CHARACTERISTICS.  141 

preacher;  but  it  was  true  that,  when  he  died,  his 
horse,  saddle,  and  bridle,  with  a  few  books,  com- 
posed the  sum  of  his  earthly  possessions.  He  had 
been  suffering  from  chills  before  he  went  to  confer- 
ence;, but  on  reaching  Nashville  he  was  stricken 
down  with  bilious  fever,  and,  despite  the  efforts  of 
physicians  and  friends,  sunk  under  it  in  a  few  days 
after  the  session  closed.  As  he  neared  his  end,  after 
conversing  pleasantly  with  some  brethren  who  had 
called  on  him,  he  became  so  happy  in  view  of  the 
prospect  before  him  that  he  broke  out  into  triumph- 
ant shouts  of  praise,  and  soon  after  passed  to  his 
reward."  3 

Mr.  Haile  was  one  of  a  class  of  preachers  of 
whom  but  few  remain,  thoroughly  devoted  to  his 
work,  strictly  conscientious,  and  believing  Method- 
ism to  be  the  divinely  appointed  agency  for  the  con- 
version of  the  world,  he  was  strict  in  observing  and 
enforcing  every  feature  of  the  Discipline,  as  well  as 
in  believing  and  proclaiming  all  its  doctrines.  He 
had  no  compromise  to  make  with  sin  in  any  form. 
It  is  said  that  he  once  had  a  member  arraigned  and 
excluded  from  the  Church  on  the  sole  charge  of 
not  maintaining  family  worship.  And  in  his  preach- 
ing he  feared  not  to  tell  men  plainly  that  they  were 
sinners,  and  that  if  they  did  not  repent  they  would 
go  to  hell.  While  on  the  Arkansas  District,  he 
boldly  denounced  the  prevalent  sins.  Rev.  J.  C. 
Berryman  says  of  him:  "He  was  an  Abolitionist 
of  the  Garrison  type,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  preach 
against  slavery,  publicly  as  well  as  privately."  Like 

3  Gen.  JuFl.  Mooiv. 


142  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

many  of  the  fathers,  he  was  very  severe  on  dram- 
drinking,  and  made  it  his  special  business  by  preach- 
ing and  discipline  to  rid  the  Church  of  the  evil  prac- 
tice. And  so  with  conformity  to  the  world  in  dress 
or  fashion.  He  believed  that  to  insure  heave.n,  the 
Christian  must  be  crucified  to  the  world.  Of  course, 
his  plainness  of  speech  and  fidelity  in  preaching  the 
Word  and  administering  discipline  made  him  un- 
popular with  worldly-minded  and  nominal  Method- 
ists, but  by  the  faithful  oues  few  ministers  were 
more  highly  esteemed  than  Jesse  Haile.  "  He  was 
very  plain  in  his  apparel,  usually  wearing  a  Quaker 
coat  and  a  broad-brimmed  hat.  His  eyes  were 
small,  eyebrows  heavy,  nose  large,  and  hair  thin 
and  straight.  He  was  an  able  debater,  particularly 
strong  on  the  baptismal  controversy,  and  never 
releasing  an  opponent  until  he  had  completely  de- 
molished him.  He  was  very  firm  and  unyielding."1 

Like  Asbury  and  McKendree,  and  many  of  the 
early  preachers,  he  never  married,  deeming  it  his 
duty  to  give  to  the  Church  his  whole  time  and 
effort, 

JACOB  WHJTESIDES,  who  was  this  year  appointed 
to  Okaw  Circuit,  was  born  in  North  Carolina  in 
1788,  and  with  his  parents  moved  to  Illinois  in  1793. 
He  was  converted  at  an  early  age  under  the  minis- 
try of  Rev.  John  Clark,  and  was  received  in  the 
Tennessee  Conference  in  1814,  and  appointed  to 
Cold  Water  and  Maramec,  and  in  1815  to  the 
Missouri  Circuit.  At  the  close  of  his  year  on  the 
Okaw  Circuit  he  was  sent  to  Cash  River  and  Big- 
~4Rev.  N.P.  Heath. 


JOHN  HARRIS.  143 

bay,  and  the  next  year  to  Shoal  Creek  and  Illinois 
as  supernumerary.  He  continued  in  this  relation 
and  in  that  of  a  superannuate  until  1822,  when  he 
located.  Being  impressed  with  the  belief  that  he 
was  providentially  called  to  Arkansas,  he  removed 
to  that  country  in  1823,  and  in  1836  was  readmitted 
in  the  Arkansas  Conference,  and  appointed  to  Mount 
Prairie  Circuit,  on  which  he  labored  two  years;  in 
1838,  he  was  sent  to  Sulphur  Fork,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  year  located.  "  He  had  married  a  Miss 
Clark,  a  most  estimable  and  worthy  lady,  and  finely 
adapted  to  itinerant  work.  He  was  a  man  of  me- 
dium height  and  rather  spare.  He  was  full  of 
sympathy  and  wept  much  while  preaching.  As  a 
minister,  he  was  of  about  average  ability,  but  in 
piety,  zeal,  and  efficiency,  he  excelled.  He  was  a 
good  singer,  and  deeply  devoted  to  the  spiritual  in- 
terests of  the  young.  He  was  a  decided  opponent 
of  American  slavery;  and,  after  his  settlement  in 
Arkansas,  he  did  not  cease  advocating  the  cause  of 
the  oppressed."5 

WILLIAM  R.  JONES,  the  junior  preacher  on  Cash 
River  and  Bigbay  Circuit,  had  just  been  received 
in  the  conference.  He  was  returned  to  the  charge 
the  next  year.  In  1818  he  was  sent  to  Lamoine 
Circuit,  Missouri,  and,  at  the  session  of  1819,  was 
expelled  from  the  Church. 

This  was  also  the  first  year  in  the  conference  of 
JOHN  HARRIS,  who  was  sent  to  the  Wabash  Cir- 
cuit. The  next  year  he  was  appointed  to  Hot 
Springs,  and  in  1818  to  Cash  River.  He  contin- 
"""5Capt.~J.  M.  Moore. 


144  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

ued  to  travel  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  save  two 
years,  when  he  was  superannuated,  until  1833;  when 
he  located.  Mr.  Beggs  relates  the  following  con- 
cerning Mr.  Harris  and  his  work  on  the  Fishing 
River  Circuit,  to  which  he  was  appointed  in  1823 : 
"  It  was  some  time  in  July  that  I  went  up  to  assist 
Brother  Harris,  of  the  Fishing  River  Circuit.  It 
was  the  first  camp-meeting  held  on  Brother  Bax- 
ter's camp-ground,  near  Liberty,  about  one  hundred 
miles  up  the  Missouri.  Brother  Harris  and  myself 
were  the  only  Methodist  preachers  present,  and  we 
both  preached  and  exhorted,  each  in  turn.  The 
meeting  grew  in  interest  till  Monday.  I  tried  to 
preach  on  that  day,  and  Brother  Harris  was  to 
preach  a  funeral  sermon.  When  T  closed,  he  com- 
menced giving  out  the  hymn, — 

'  And  am  I  born  to  die, 
To  lay  this  body  down?' 

When  he  came  to  -the  second  verse, — 

'  Soon  as  from  earth  I  go, 
What  will  become  of  me  ?' 

the  power  of  the  Almighty  came  down  in  such  a 
wonderful  manner  as  is  seldom  witnessed.  Brother 
Harris  fell  back  in  the  pulpit,  overcome  by  the 
influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  called  upon  me  to 
invite  the  people  forward  for  prayers.  During  my 
sermon  I  had  noticed  that  one  powerfully  built  man 
in  the  congregation  was  so  filled  with  the  power  of 
God  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he  restrained  his 
feelings.  Now  was  the  time  for  him  to  give  vent 
to  his  feelings,  and  his  shouts  of  '  Glory  to  God  in 
the  highest,'  were  such  that  the  whole  congregation 


A  CAMP-MEETING.  145 

seemed  thrilled  with  the  power  of  God.  It  was  as 
if  a  current  of  electricity  ran  through  the  assembly, 
setting  on  fire  with  the  love  of  Jesus  each  soul  in 
divine  presence.  It  was  a  memorable  time;  the 
whole  camp-ground  was  convulsed,  and  the  invita- 
tion was  no  sooner  extended  than  the  mourners 
came  pouring  forward  in  a  body  for  prayers  till  the 
altar  was  filled  with  weeping  penitents.  It  was  as 
if  the  shouts  of  his  sacramental  hosts  were  heard 
afar  off.  The  meeting  continued  that  afternoon  and 
all  night.  Late  in  the  night  I  went  to  Brother 
Baxter's  house  to  get  some  rest,  but  the  work  was 
so  urgent,  sinners  weeping  all  over  the  camp- 
ground, that  I  was  sent  for  to  come  back  and  con- 
tinue my  exertions;  and  there  we  wrestled,  the 
Christian  and  the  sinner,  in  one  common  interest, 
like  Jacob  of  old,  till  the  break  of  day.  On  Tues- 
day morning  scarcely  a  soul  remained  unconverted 
or  not  seeking  pardon." 

The  year  was  one  of  only  moderate  prosperity. 
On  the  Illinois  Circuit  there  was  a  gain  of  63  mem- 
bers, on  the  Okaw  of  39,  and  on  the  Wabash  of  33, 
whilst  on  the  Cash  River  and  Bigbay  Circuit  there 
was  a  decrease  of  95,  making  a  net  gain  in  Illinois 
for  the  year  of  only  41.  The  entire  membership 
was  998  whites  and  11  colored. 
13 


146  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


II. 

1817. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT— Samuel  H.  Thompson,    P.  E. 

Illinois — Joseph  Powiiall . 

Okaw — Josiah  Patterson. 

Cash  River  and  Btijbay — Jacob  Whitesides,  Wm.  R.  Jones. 

Wabash — Daniel  McHenry. 

THE  Missouri  Conference  for  1817  was  held  at 
Goshen,  in  the  Bethel  meeting-house,  Madison 
County,  Illinois,  October  6th.  Bishop  Roberts  pre- 
sided and  John  Scripps  was  secretary.  No  changes 
were  made  in  the  plan  of  the  work  in  Illinois,  the 
circuits  remaining  the  same  as  they  were  the  year 
before.  The  year  was  one  of  some  prosperity.  On 
the  Illinois  Circuit,  under  the  labors  of  Joseph 
Pownall,  there  was  an  increase  of  94  members. 
On  the  Okaw  Circuit,  under  Josiah  Patterson  and 
William  Sterrett,  there  was  an  increase  of  101.  The 
Cash  River  and  Bigbay  Circuit,  however,  traveled 
by  Jacob  Whitesides  and  William  R.  Jones,  re- 
ported a  decrease  of  58 ;  and  the  Wabash,  of  which 
Daniel  McHenry  was  pastor,  a  decrease  of  26.  The 
whole  number  of  members  in  the  territory  was 
1,107  white  and  13  colored. 

There  were  some  very  valuable  accessions  to  the 
Methodist  population  of  Illinois  this  year.  Amongst 
them  wass  SAMUIOL  MITCHELL,  who  settled  near 


ZADOC  CASEY.  147 

Belleville.  He  had  been  a  resident  of  Botetourt 
County,  Virginia.  For  more  than  half  a  century 
he  labored  as  a  local  preacher.  He  was  a  man  of 
great  natural  endowments,  of  prepossessing  and  dig- 
nified personal  appearance,  of  most  winning  and 
affable  manners,  and  a  very  able,  acceptable,  and 
useful  preacher.  Before  leaving  Virginia  he  manu- 
mitted his  slaves,  and  selected  a  home  in  a  free 
State,  where  his  children  could  grow  up  free  from 
the  contaminating  influence  of  slavery.1  He  was 
the  father  of  John  T.  and  James  Mitchell. 

Another  of  the  notable  accessions  to  the  Church 
this  year  was  ZADOC  CASEY,  who  settled  at  Mt. 
Vernon,  in  Jefferson  County.  He  was  born  in 
Georgia  in  1798,  but  at  an  early  age  removed  to 
Tennessee.  He  enjoyed  but  few  educational  advan- 
tages in  his  youth,  having  attended  school  but  three 
months,  and  not  learning  to  write  until  manhood. 
Yet  by  his  own  efforts  he  became  a  well-read  and 
intelligent  man,  and  was  honored  by  his  fellow- 
citizens  with  some  of  the  most  important  offices  in 
the  land.  In  1828  he  became  a  member  of  the 
State  Legislature.  In  1830  he  was  elected  lieuten- 
ant-governor, and  was  said  to  be  one  of  the  best 
presiding  officers  the  senate  ever  had.  In  1832  he 
was  elected  to  Congress,  in  which  he  served  ten 
years,  and  where  he  acquired  an  honorable  reputa- 
tion for  attention  to  business,  for  punctuality  in  at- 
tending the  sessions,  and  for  his  sound  mind  and 
judgment.  He  was  afterwards  a  member  of  the 
State  Constitutional  Convention  of  1848,  and  often 

1  General  Minutes.  * 


148  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

afterwards  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  For  over 
forty  years  he  was  a  faithful  and  useful  local 
preacher.  At  the  conference  at  Madison,  Indiana, 
in  1828,  he  was  elected  to  elder's  orders.  He  was 
a  natural  orator,  always  commanding  large  congre- 
gations, and  making  a  favorable  impression  on  his 
hearers.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  personal  appear- 
ance, of  remarkable  suavity  of  manners,  yet  modest, 
retiring,  and  unassuming.  He  died  September 
12,  1862. 

An  amusing  anecdote  is  told  of  the  influence 
Methodism  was  already  exerting  in  the  country, 
and  illustrating  the  zeal  and  fidelity  of  the  pioneer 
preachers.  A  Pennsylvania!!  of  German  descent, 
named  Richard  Wilhelm,  had  settled  this  year  in 
what  is  now  Staunton  Township,  in  Macoupin 
County.  He  and  his  family  lived  for  some  time  in 
the  hollow  of  a  sycamore-tree  ten  feet  in  diameter. 
He  had  a  great  dread  of  Methodists.  Soon  learn- 
ing, however,  that  the  preachers  were  coming,  he 
sold  out  his  claim  and  moved  southward.  When 
asked  what  was  his  destination,  he  declared  that  he 
was  going  until  he  found  a  country  a  good  deal 
hotter  than  this,  but  that  he  would  get  away  from 
the  Methodists.  He  was  last  heard  from  in  Texas. 

Of  JOSEPH  POWXAL,  who  labored  in  Illinois  for 
the  first  time  this  year,  we  have  but  little  informa- 
tion. He  was  received  on  trial  in  the  Ohio  Confer- 
ence in  1814  and  appointed  to  Marietta,  and  in  1815 
to  Steubenville.  In  1816  he  appears  in  the  Mis- 
souri Conference,  and  was  sent  to  Silver  Creek,  the 
next  year  to  Illinois,  the  two  following  years  to 


WILLIAM  STERRETT.  149 

Blue  Kiver,  and  at  the  conference  of  1820  he  lo- 
cated. At  the  session  of  the  Illinois  Conference, 
held  at  Charleston,  Indiana,  in  1825,  he  was  elected 
to  elders'  orders. 

WILLIAM  STERRETT,  who  this  year  traveled  as 
junior  preacher  on  the  Okaw  Circuit,  but  whose 
name  does  not  appear  on  the  Minutes,  deserves  more 
than  the  mere  mention  of  his  name.  He  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania  about  1790,  and  while  yet  a  boy, 
came  with  his  parents  to  the  Territory  of  Illinois, 
and  settled  in  the  American  Bottom  near  Kaskas- 
kia.  He  was  converted  in  early  life.  His  conver- 
sion was  so  clear  and  powerful  as  to  give  tone  to  all 
his  after  life.  Possessed  of  rare  natural  gifts  and 
enjoying  much  of  the  grace  of  God,  his  father,  who 
was  then  a  Presbyterian,  resolved  to  educate  him 
for  the  ministry  of  that  Church.  But  a  great  re- 
vival occurring  under  the  auspices  of  the  Method- 
ists in  the  neighborhood,  both  father  and  son  were 
led  to  become  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Young  Sterrett  served  in  the  war  with 
Great  Britain  from  its  beginning  to  its  close  as  a 
private  soldier  in  Captain  Moore's  company  of 
mounted  rangers.  Whilst  in  the  service  he  was 
detailed  with  a  squad  as  guard  to  a  boat  load  of 
provisions  destined  for  some  point  on  the  upper 
Mississippi.  Whilst  on  their  way,  entering  a  group 
of  islands  thickly  covered  with  willows,  they  were 
suddenly  assailed  by  a  deadly  fire  from  savages  in 
ambuscade,  whilst  a  heavy  wind  was  driving  them 
directly  into  the  power  of  the  foe.  So  sudden  and 
unexpected  was  the  assault,  and  so  perilous  the  sit- 


150  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

nation,  that  the  pilot,  pale  with  terror,  deserted  his 
post,  leaving  the  boat  to  drift  before  the  wind.  Mr. 
Sterrett,  amid  whizzing  bullets,  some  of  which  pen- 
etrated his  clothing,  sprang  to  the  helm,  and  suc- 
ceeded by  his  coolness  and  courage  in  saving  the 
boat  and  crew  from  destruction.  He  was  naturally 
very  diffident,  and  it  was  only  at  the  earnest  solici- 
tation of  the  Church  that  he  consented  to  receive 
license  to  preach.  During  this  year,  whilst  serving 
as  junior  preacher  under  Josiah  Patterson  on  the 
Okaw  Circuit,  his  zeal  impelled  him  to  labors  be- 
yond his  strength,  and  he  was  compelled  at  the 
close  of  the  year  to  retire  from  the  itinerant  field, 
and  henceforth  labor  only  in  a  local  sphere.  This 
he  did  efficiently  and  usefully.  After  some  years 
he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  faithfully  served 
the  Church  as  local  preacher,  class  leader,  and  finan- 
cial agent,  until  his  death.  He  was  the  father  of  S. 
T.  Sterrett,  formerly  of  the  Illinois,  but  now  of  the 
California  Conference.2 
» Capt.  J.  M.  Moore. 


ILLINOIS  A  STATE.  151 


CHAPTER  III. 
1818. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT — Jesse  Haile,  P.  E. 

Shocd  Creek  and  Illinois — S.  H.  Thompson,  Thomas 

Heliums,  Jacob  Whitesides,  Sup. 
Okaw— Josiah  Patterson. 
Cash  River — John  Harris. 
Bigbarj — Thomas  Davis. 
Wabash — Charles  Slocumb. 

THE  year  1818  was  an  important  one  in  the 
history  of  Illinois.  The  State  was  that  year 
admitted  into  the  Union.  The  population  had  in- 
creased to  about  forty-five  thousand ;  fifteen  counties 
had  been  already  organized,  and  settlements  were 
spreading  more  rapidly  than  in  any  previous  period 
of  its  history.  The  treaty  of  Edwardsville,  entered 
into  this  year,  by  which  the  Kickapoo  Indians 
csded  to  the  United  States  ten  million  acres  of 
land,  embracing  all  the  central  portion  of  the  State, 
opened  up  for  the  settlement  a  vast  region,  unsur- 
passed in  fertility,  and  directed  to  Illinois  a  stream 
of  emigration  from  most  of  the  older  States  of  the 
Union.  To  keep  up  with  the  advancing  population, 
the  bishop,  presiding  at  the  session  of  the  Missouri 
Conference,  which  was  held  at  the  Bethel  meeting- 
house, where  the  previous  session  had  been  held, 
and  not  at  Mt.  Zion  meeting-house,  in  Murphy's 


152  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

settlement,  as  announced  in  the  General  Minutes, 
made  several  changes  in  the  circuits.  The  number 
was  increased  to  six,  though  two  of  them  were 
united,  and,  instead  of  the  five  preachers  of  the 
year  before,  seven  were  now  employed.  A  Shoal 
Creek  Circuit  was  formed,  embracing  the  settle- 
ments on  both  sides  of  that  stream  and  on  the 
Upper  Okaw,  though  connected  for  the  time  with 
the  Illinois  Circuit,  and  Cash  River  and  Bigbay 
were  separated.  Jesse  Haile,  who  had  traveled  the 
Illinois  Circuit  two  years  before,  succeeded  Samuel 
H.  Thompson  on  the  district,  whilst  Mr.  Thompson 
was  put  in  charge  of  the  combined  Illinois  and 
Shoal  Creek  Circuits,  with  Thomas  Heliums  as 
assistant,  and  Jacob  Whitesides,  supernumerary. 
Josiah  Patterson  was  returned  to  the  Okaw  Circuit; 
John  Harris,  who  had  traveled  the  Wabash  Circuit 
two  years  before,  was  appointed  to  Cash  River; 
Thomas  Davis,  a  new  man  in  the  State,  was  sent 
to  Bigbay;  and  Charles  Slocumb  to  W abash.  There 
was  an  increase  in  the  membership  this  year  of 
three  hundred  and  thirty-two,  mostly  in  the  Illinois, 
Shoal  Creek,  and  Okaw  charges,  the  membership  for 
the  year  being  reported  at  1435  whites  and  17  col- 
ored. 

THOMAS  HELJAJMS  was  brought  up  by  pious 
parents,  who  from  childhood  taught  him  the  way 
of  the  Lord.  In  1805  he  was  received  on  trial  in 
the  Western  Conference,  and  appointed  to  Red 
River  Circuit;  the  next  year  he  was  sent  to  White 
River;  in  1807  to  Shelby,  and  in  1808  to  Natchez. 
His  appointment  in  1809  was  Nashville,  in  1810 


THOMAS  HELLUMS.  153 

Tennessee  Valley,  the  next  year  Cumberland,  and 
in  1812,  falling  into  the  Ohio  Conference,  he  was 
sent  to  Licking.  At  the  close  of  this  year,  says 
Bedford,  "  worn  down  by  constant  toil  and  expo- 
sure, he  was  compelled  to  seek  for  rest,  and  in  1813 
asked  for  a  location.  In  a  local  sphere  he  first  en- 
gaged in  teaching  school  as  a  means  of  support,  but, 
compelled  to  relinquish  this  for  want  of  health,  he 
entered  upon  the  practice  of  law,  having  previously 
studied  that  profession.  Impressed,  however,  with 
the  belief  that  it  embarrassed  his  ministerial  and 
Christian  standing,  he  abandoned  it."  In  1818  he 
was  readmitted  in  the  Missouri  Conference,  and  ap- 
pointed, as  stated  above,  to  the  Illinois  and  Shoal 
Creek  Circuit  as  junior  preacher.  At  the  close  of 
the  year  he  again  located.  The  remainder  of  his 
sad  history  is  given  by  Rev.  Jonathan  Stamper  in 
the  Home  Circle,  Vol.  3 : 

"Under  protracted  affliction  of  body  his  mind 
became  a  ruin,  and  the  remainder  of  his  life  was 
spent  in  a  state  of  partial  insanity.  During  this 
period  he  traveled  extensively  and  preached  often  ; 
and  it  is  remarkable  that  no  trace  of  derangement 
could  be  seen  in  his  discourses.  He  investigated 
subjects  with  clearness  and  force,  but  immediately 
after  leaving  the  pulpit  exhibited  signs  of  his  mal- 
ady. He  was  fearful  of  all  who  came  near,  imagin- 
ing them  to  be  enemies  who  were  trying  to  injure 
him,  and  often  exhibited  defensive  weapons  as  a 
means  of  deterring  them.  The  end  of  this  good 
brother  was  melancholy.  While  traveling  in  what 
was  then  the  Territory  of  Arkansas,  he  fell  in  with 


154  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS, 

some  acquaintances,  who  induced  him  to  attend  a 
camp-meeting.  But  he  seemed  to  be  greatly  har- 
assed by  fear  from  the  time  he  readied  the  camp- 
ground, and  could  not  be  persuaded  to  preach  until 
some  time  of  the  day  on  Sunday,  when  he  took  the 
stand,  and  preached  one  of  the  most  lucid  and  power- 
ful sermons  those  present  had  ever  heard.  On  leav- 
ing the  pulpit  he  became  deeply  deranged,  manifesting 
alarm  at  the  approach  of  his  best  friends,  whom  he 
forbade  to  come  near  him,  at  the  same  time  show- 
ing in  his  hand  a  large  knife.  He  at  length  got 
his  horse  and  started  from  the  meeting  (which  was 
held  on  the  border  of  an  immense  prairie)  out  into 
the  trackless  waste,  and  has  never  been  heard  of 
since." 

THOMAS  DAVIS,  who  was  this  year  on  Bigbay 
Circuit,  united  with  the  Tennessee  Conference  in 
1815,  and  was  appointed  to  Vincennes.  The  next 
year,  from  the  Missouri  Conference,  he  was  sent 
to  Patoka,  and  in  1817  to  Little  Pigeon.  In 
1819-20  he  traveled  the  Wabash  Circuit;  for  the 
two  following  years  he  was  on  the  Cape  Girardeau 
Circuit,  in  Missouri ;  in  1823,  he  labored  on  the 
Shoal  Creek  Circuit;  and,  in  1824,  he  was  ap- 
pointed from  the  Illinois  Conference  to  Mt.  Cawnel. 
In  1825  he  was  again  on  the  Wabash  Circuit.  For 
the  four  following  years  he  labored  in  Indiana,  and 
at  the  conference  of  1830  he  located.  He  after- 
wards united  with  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

CHARLES  SLOOUMB  was  received  on  trial  at  the 
first  session  of  the  Missouri  Conference,  and  ap- 
pointed to  Vincennes  and  Harrison,  and  the  next 


CHARLES  SLOCUMB.  155 

year  to  Patoka.  In  1819  he  was  sent  to  the  Mt. 
Carmel  Circuit,  but  his  health  failing,  he  was  placed 
on  the  superannuated  list  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
and  in  1821  he  located.  Six  years  afterwards  he 
was  readmitted  in  the  Illinois  Conference,  and  sent 
to  Patoka  Circuit,  but  at  the  close  of  the  year  he 
again  located.  In  1833  he  was  once  more  read- 
mitted, and  appointed  to  Shawneetown,  and  at  the 
expiration  of  the  year  was  again  granted  a  location, 
and  in  this  relation  he  continued  until  his  death. 
He  settled  in  White  County,  near  Carmi.  One  who 
knew  him  well,  says  of  him :  "  He  was  deeply  re- 
ligious. He  was  very  popular  as  a  preacher,  and 
preached  the  funeral  sermons  for  all  the  coitntry  for 
miles  around.  In  his  manner  he  was  very  pathetic, 
his  sermons  often  producing  a  powerful  effect  on  his 
hearers.  He  Avas  especially  strong  on  the  baptismal 
controversy.  He  was  considered  by  the  people  as 
a  great  preacher."  "  Mr.  Maffitt,  in  describing  the 
Eastern  preachers,"  says  Mr.  Beggs,  "  spoke  of  their 
method  as  being,  as  a  general  rule,  systematic  and 
phlegmatic;  but  the  Western  preachers — their  voice 
was  like  a  mountain  horn.  Our  camp-meetings 
were  peculiarly  the  school  of  this  style,  in  which 
the  appeals  had  all  the  freedom  of  the  open  air  and 
the  winds  and  the  directness  and  speed  of  the  light- 
ning. I  attended  such  a  meeting  at  Mt.  Carmel,  in 
1825,  over  which  S.  H.  Thompson,  presiding  elder, 
presided.  The  converts  in  those  days  were  born 
strong  into  the  kingdom,  and  entered  it  shouting. 

"  Charles  Slocumb,  who  labored  in  the  Wabash 
region,  was  such  a  preacher  as  I  have  described,  a 


156  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

local  preacher,  yet  his  ministrations  were  invariably 
attended  with  great  power.  At  the  above  camp- 
meeting,  a  most  hardened  sinner  was  forced  to  cry 
for  mercy  under  one  of  his  powerful  sermons.  He 
was  portraying  the  misery  of  the  damned,  when 
this  man,  an  old  Revolutionary  soldier,  who  had 
been  standing  on  the  outskirts  of  the  throng,  came 
rushing  towards  the  altar,  crying  at  the  top  of  his 
voice,  ( Quarter!  quarter!'  Falling  on  his  knees, 
he  exclaimed,  '  I  am  an  old  soldier ;  I  fought 
through  the  Revolutionary  war,  I  have  heard  the 
cannon  roar  in  battle,  and  seen  the  blood  pour 
forth  in  streams ;  but  since  God  made  me,  I  have 
never  heard  such  cannonading  as  that.  I  yield !  I 
yield !"  Mr.  Slocumb  "  was  a  fine,  spirited  man, 
a  strong,  useful,  and  popular  preacher.  He  died  in 
1844.  Plis  death  was  peaceful  and  triumphant."1 
»Eev.  J.H.  Dickens. 


MT.  CA11MEL  FOUNDED. 


157 


iv. 


•1819. 


ILLINOIS  DISTRICT—  David  Sharp,  P.  E. 

Illinois  —  Samuel  II.  Thompson. 

Okaw  —  James  Lowry. 

Cash  River  —  Josiah  Patterson. 

Wabash—  Thomas  Davis. 

Mt.  Carmcl—  Charles  Slocumb. 

THE  fourth  session  of  the  Missouri  Conference 
was  held  at  McKendree  Chapel,  Cape  Girar- 
deau  County,  Missouri,  beginning  September  14, 
1819.  The  chapel  in  which  the  conference  was 
held  was  probably  the  first  church  edifice  erected 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  It  was  built  of  pop- 
lar logs,  under  the  direction  of  Jesse  Walker,  in 
1807  or  8,  and  in  1882  was  still  standing  and  in 
good  repair,  though  some  alterations  had  been  made 
in  the  arrangement  of  the  building.  Some  changes 
were  made  in  the  work  in  Illinois.  The  name  of 
Shoal  Creek  disappears,  and  the  Illinois  Circuit 
stands  as  before  1818.  The  Bigbay  Circuit  also 
disappears,  probably  connected  with  Cash  River, 
and  a  new  charge,  Mt.  Carmel,  was  formed  from 
the  Wabash  Circuit. 

The  town  of  Mt.  Carmel,  from  which  the  cir- 
cuit was  named,  had  been  settled  by  a  Methodist 
colony  from  Ohio.  A  company,  of  whom  Thomas 
S.  Hinde,  Wm.  McDowell,  and  Dr.  Stubbs  were  the 
chief,  had  purchased,  in  1817,  a  tract  of  land  from 


158  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

a  Mr.  Greathouse,  on  the  bank  of  the  Wabash,  three 
miles  below  the  Grand  Rapids,  and  sent  out  REV. 
WILLIAM  BEAUCHAMP,  as  their  agent,  to  lay  off 
the  town.  Mr.  Beauchamp,  after  laboring  with 
great  success  as  a  traveling  preacher  for  several 
years  in  New  England,  New  York,  and  Pittsburg, 
and  as  a  local  preacher  in  Western  Virginia,  had  for 
one  year  been  editing  the  Western  Christian  Mon- 
itor, at  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  the  only  religious  paper 
then  published  in  the  Church.  With  his  family 
and  assistants,  he  moved  in  a  boat  down  the  Scioto 
and  Ohio  and  up  the  Wabash,  holding  family  prayer 
regularly,  observing  the  Sabbath,  and  traveling  as 
befitted  a  Methodist  colony.  In  the  first  cabin  that 
was  erected  after  their  arrival  he  organized  a  Church, 
composed  of  his  own  family,  the  carpenter,  the  black- 
smith, some  laborers,  and  two  colored  boys.  Soon 
afterwards  their  number  was  increased  by  the  addi- 
tion of  pther  Methodist  families  who  removed  to 
the  town.  Mr.  Beauchamp  himself  was  preacher, 
doctor,  and  surveyor  for  the  colony.  Dr.  Stevens 
says  of  him  :  "  He  showed  himself  the  truly  great 
man  in  all  the  details  of  this  new  business,  planning 
public  measures  and  economical  arrangement;  de- 
vising mechanical  improvements,  for  which  he  had 
a  rare  genius ;  directing  the  instruction  of  the  youth, 
and  simplifying  its  modes ;  ministering  as  pastor  to 
the  congregation,  and  meanwhile  advancing  in  his 
own  studies  and  improvement."  Before  leaving 
Chillicothe,  he  had  drawn  up  a  charter  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  colony  which  was  adopted  by  the 
Illinois  Territorial  Legislature  at  its  session  in  1817, 


WILLIAM  BEAUCHAMP.  159 

and,  under  this  old  charter,  the  municipal  govern- 
ment has  ever  since  been  administered.  It  is  a 
remarkably  well-planned  document  for  the  design 
of  the  proprietors. 

In  1821  Mr.  Beauchamp  retired  to  his  farm, 
three  miles  from  Mt.  Carmel.  Soon  after  this  he 
lost  his  only  son,  a  promising  boy  of  fourteen.  He 
then  re-entered  the  itinerant  ranks,  and  was  sta- 
tioned one  year  in  St.  Louis,  at  the  end  of  which 
he  was  appointed  presiding  elder  of  the  Indiana 
District.  He  was  a  member  of  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1824,  and  such  was  the  estimate  his 
brethren  had  of  his  talents  and  piety  that  he  came 
within  a  few  votes  of  being  elected  bishop.  He 
returned  from  the  General  Conference  in  feeble 
health,  and  died  at  Paoli,  Indiana,  just  before  the 
first  session  of  the  Illinois  Conference,  in  his  fifty- 
third  year.  Mr.  Beauchamp  was  about  five  feet, 
eight  inches  in  height,  slender  but  well-propor- 
tioned, with  dark  hair,  sallow  complexion,  and  thin 
visage.  "  His  features  were  regular  and  oval,  his 
head,  forehead,  and  face  well-proportioned.  There 
was  nothing  remarkable  in  his  appearance,  even 
his  eye  in  repose  seeming  languid  and  uninterested. 
But  when  aroused  all  this  was  changed,  and  every 
feature  was  eloquent.  Usually,  he  impressed  one 
with  a  reserve  bordering  on  austerity ;  yet  in  con- 
versation none  could  be  more  interesting  or  adapt- 
ive. In  a  company  of  select  friends  his  soul  ex- 
panded as  at  a  mental  feast.  In  public  speaking 
his  voice  was  uniform,  remarkably  soft,  but  became 
loud  and  energetic  in  argument.  His  gestures  were 


160  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

natural  and  easy.  One  of  his  much-admired  traits 
was  that,  in  preaching,  when  dwelling  on  the  prom- 
ises and  invitations  of  the  Gospel,  there  was  a  soft 
tenderness,  a  sweetness  in  his  voice,  interrupted  fre- 
quently by  gentle  breaks,  as  if  the  swelling  sympa- 
thies of  his  heart  obstructed  his  utterance,  when  a 
gentle,  thrilling  sensation  appeared  to  move  the  lis- 
tening multitude,  all  bending  forward  to  catch  every 
word  as  it  fell  from  his  lips.  But  when  he  became 
argumentative,  and  especially  when  assailing  false 
doctrines,  his  tone  was  elevated,  his  whole  system 
nerved,  his  voice  assumed  a  deep,  hollow  tone,  was 
elevated  to  its  utmost  pitch,  and  fell  like  peals  of 
thunder  on  the  assembly.  On  one  occasion,  while 
engaged  in  controversy,  his  antagonist,  who  had  sat 
and  listened  for  some  length  of  time  to  arguments 
too  powerful  for  him  to  answer,  began  to  look  ter- 
rified, as  if  the  voice  which  he  now  heard  came 
from  another  world.  He  arose,  apparently  with  the 
design  of  leaving  the  house,  but  was  seemingly  so 
overcome  that  he  had  no  power  to  do  so ;  he  stag- 
gered, caught  by  the  railing,  reeled  and  fell  into  his 
seat,  and  there  remained,  overwhelmed  and  con- 
founded, until  Beauchamp  had  concluded,  when  he 
quickly  left  the  house." ' 

"  He  was  a  man  of  refined  taste  and  gentlemanly 
manners.  He  was  possessed  of  great  versatility,  and 
could  adapt  himself  to  all  classes.  As  a  preacher, 
he  was  attractive  and  impressive,  solemn  and  elo- 
quent, and  very  popular.  Besides  his  numerous 
essays  and  newspaper  articles,  he  was  the  author  of 

2  Methodist  Magazine. 


MOUNT  CARMEL  CIRCUIT.  161 

a  work  on  the  '  Evidences  of  Christianity,'  that 
was  widely  and  deservedly  popular.  Besides  his 
son,  he  had  three  daughters,  who  were  married,  one 
of  them  to  Aaron  Wood;  but  all  died  childless. 
When  Mr.  Beauchamp  lived  in  Virginia,  and  his 
sister  married  a  slaveholder,  he  uttered  the  follow- 
ing prayer:  *O  God,  write  all  my  children  childless 
rather  than  the  latest  generation  from  me  should 
ever  own  a  slave.'  " 

At  the  time  Mt.  Carmel  was  laid  out,.  Wabash 
County,  of  which  it  is  now  the  county-seat,  was  not 
organized,  but  constituted  a  part  of  Edwards  County. 
Its  county-seat  was  Palmyra,  a  town  of  about  three 
hundred  inhabitants,  at  the  Wabash  Rapids,  three 
miles  above  Mt.  Carmel.  There  was  the  United 
States  Land-office,  and  there,  before  1820,  was  a 
branch  of  the  old  State  Bank  of  Illinois.  After- 
wards the  county-seat  was  removed  to  Albion.  The 
growing  town,  Mt.  Carmel,  drew  off  the  population 
from  Palmyra,  and  where  was  once  a  flourishing 
village  is  now  a  forest. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  this  was  the  first  circuit 
in  Illinois  named  after  the  chief  town  and  post- 
office  in  it.  Generally  the  circuits  were  called  by 
the  names  of  the  streams  upon  which  they  were  sit- 
uated; and  as  some  of  these  streams  are  two  or 
three  hundred  miles  long,  it  is  not  always  easy  to 
ascertain  the  location  or  boundaries  of  the  circuits 
named  from  them.  It  is  only  recently  that  the  im- 
portance has  been  seen  of  naming  the  charge  after 
the  chief  town  in  it. 


162  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

The  year  was  a  very  prosperous  one.  The  coun- 
try was  settling  more  rapidly  than  ever,  and  new 
Methodist  societies  were  formed  in  every  direction. 

REV.  JOSEPH  CURTIS,  who  had  just  removed 
from  Ohio,  formed  the  first  class  this  year  in  what 
is  now  Edgar  County,  in  the  house  of  Col.  Jona- 
than Mayo,  the  first  settler  in  that  region.  The 
class  consisted  of  seven  persons ;  namely,  Jonathan 
Mayo  and  wife,  John  Stratton  and  wife,  Joseph 
Curtis  and  wife,  and  Sallie  Whitley.  Three  of 
these — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mayo  and  Mrs.  Curtis — were 
still  living  in  1882. 

Mr.  Curtis  was  also  first  to  proclaim  the  Word 
of  God  in  Edgar  County.  He  was  a  man  of  mod- 
erate preaching  ability,  but  a  consistent  Christian 
and  an  industrious  local  preacher,  enjoying  the  con- 
fidence of  the  community. 

The  Pinckard  family  moved  from  Ohio  this  year, 
and  settled  at  Alton  in  the  Fall  of  1819.  NATHAN- 
IEL. PINCKARD,  the  father,  was  a  native  of  Virginia. 
He  was  a  very  acceptable  and  useful  local  preacher. 
In  early  life  he  had  been  a  missionary  to  the  West 
Indies  under  Dr.  Coke,  and  for  several  years  had 
charge  of  an  academy  at  Kingston,  Jamaica.  He 
was  a  man  of  fine  education,  and  spent  much  of  his 
life  in  teaching.  As  soon  as  his  cabin  was  erected 
in  Upper  Alton,  he  commenced  preaching  in  it  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  soon  it  became  the  regular  preach- 
ing-place for  the  appointment.  One  of  his  sons, 
William  G.,  and  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Heath,  erected 
the  first  cabin  in  what  is  now  Alton  City.  Three 
of  his  grandsons  became  Methodist  preachers, — 


NEW  SETTLERS.  163 

N.  P.  Heath  and  John  C.  Pinckard,  of  the  Illinois 
Conference,  and  P.  M.  Pinckard,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  South.  One  of  his  granddaugh- 
ters became  the  wife  of  C.  P.  Baldwin,  of  the  Illi- 
nois Conference,  and  another  the  wife  of  T.  W. 
Chandler,  who  died  a  member  of  the  Southern  Illi- 
nois Conference.  In  the  Spring  of  1820  BENNETT 
MAXEY,  a  local  preacher  from  Ohio,  settled  near 
Mr.  Pinckard,  and  alternated  with  him  in  preaching 
to  the  people.  Amongst  the  new-comers  to  Sanga- 
mon  County  were  the  Husseys,  who  settled  on 
Fancy  Creek,  and  were,  indeed,  the  first  settlers  in 
that  part  of  the  county.  For  many  years  the  house 
of  Nathan  Hussey,  the  father,  was  a  preaching- 
place  ;  and  most  of  his  large  family  of  children  be- 
came active  and  useful  members  of  the  Church. 
His  eldest  son,  William,  has  long  been  a  pillar  in 
the  Church  on  Williamsville  Circuit.  A  camp- 
ground was  established  in  the  neighborhood,  where 
many  souls  found  the  Savior,  and  where  the  writer 
of  these  sketches  experienced  his  second  birth. 

This  year  the  Ross  family  moved  from  New 
York  and  settled  at  Atlas,  in  what  is  now  Pike 
County.  Some  of  them  were,  or  afterwards  became, 
Methodists,  but  a  society  was  not  formed  there  for 
some  time. 

JOHN  D.  GILHAM  settled  this-  year  on  the  Piasa, 
in  what  is  now  Jersey  County,  and  it  was  not  long 
until  a  flourishing  society  was  formed  in  his  neigh- 
borhood. 

In  the  Spring  of  1820  several  persons  who  were, 
or  afterwards  became,  Methodists,  .settled  in  Morgan 


164  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

County.  Amongst  them  were  the  Wyatts,  James 
Deaton,  Jesse  Ruble,  and  James  Gilham,  who  all 
became  leading  members  of  the  Church  in  different 
parts  of  the  county. 

Amongst  the  visitors  to  the  country  this  year 
was  the  eccentric  Lorenzo  Dow.  Paying  a  visit  to 
Fort  Clark,  he  preached  quite  extensively  in  the 
State  as  lie  was  going  and  returning,  attracting 
everywhere  huge  congregations,  and  making  im- 
pressions upon  his  hearers  that  have  never  been 
forgotten. 

The  increase  in  the  number  of  members  reported 
this  year  was  419,  a  gain  of  nearly  thirty  per  cent. 
The  whole  number  at  the  close  of  the  year  was 
1864  whites  and  7  colored. 

During  this  year  the  first  missionary  society  in 
the  State  was  formed.  The  following  detailed  ac- 
count of  it  is  taken  from  the  Methodist  Magazine; 
"At  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Mt.  Carmel,  in 
Edwards  County,  Illinois,  Saturday  afternoon,  July 
22,  1820,  to  take  into  consideration  the  establish- 
ment of  an  Indian  free  school  and  Indian  mission, 
Elias  Stone,  a  traveling  preacher,  was  chosen  chair- 
man, and  Thomas  S.  Hinde,  secretary.  After  an 
address  by  W.  Beau  champ,  a  Methodist  Missionary 
Society  was  organized,  and  a  constitution  adopted. 
The  president  elected  was  David  Sharp,  P.  E. ;  Wm. 
Beauchamp,  vice-president;  Thomas  S.  Hinde,  sec- 
retary; Scoby  Stewart,  treasurer,  and  John  Inger- 
soll,  John  Tilton,  Edward  Ulm,  Thomas  Gould, 
Joshua  Beall,  managers." 

Two  new  men  appear  as  connected  with  the  work 


DA  VID  SHARP.  165 

this  year,  David  Sharp  as  presiding  elder  of. the  dis- 
trict, and  James  Lowry,  sent  to  the  Okaw  Circuit. 
DAVID  SHARP  was  born  of  Quaker  parents  in 
the  State  of  New  Jersey,  September  5,  1787.  In 
1800  he  removed  with  them  to  Logan  County,  Ohio. 
When  in  his  twentieth  year  he  was  converted  and 
united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  This 
step  brought  on  him  the  displeasure  of  his  parents, 
and,  though  they  afterwards  became  reconciled  to 
it,  he  was  compelled,  for  a  time,  to  find  a  home 
away  from  his  father's  house.  In  his  twenty-third 
year  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  employed  by 
the  presiding  elder  to  travel  a  circuit.  He  united 
with  the  Ohio  Conference  in  1813,  and  was  appointed 
to  Whitewater  Circuit  in  Indiana.  During  the  four 
following  years  he  traveled  successively  White  Oak, 
Lawrenceburg,  Piqua,  and  Milford  Circuits.  The 
following  year  he  was  transferred  to  Missouri  Con- 
ference and  appointed  to  Silver  Creek ;  and  the 
next  year,  as  stated  above,  he  succeeded  Jesse  Haile 
on  the  Illinois  District,  on  which  he  remained  two 
years.  In  1824  he  was  transferred  to  the  Ohio 
Conference  and  appointed  to  Grand  River.  The 
next  year  he  fell  into  the  Pittsburg  Conference,  in 
which  he  remained  until  1849.  For  four  years  of 
this  time  he  was  on  the  Pittsburg  District,  and  dur- 
ing the  remainder  in  some  of  the  most  important 
stations  and  circuits  in  the  conference.  In  1849  he 
was  transferred  again  to  the  Ohio  Conference,  in 
which  he  continued  until  his  death.  For  the  last 
six  years  of  his  life  he  was  on  the  superannuated 
list.  He  died  April  21,  1865,  in  his  seventy-eighth 


166  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

year.  As  a  preacher  "  his  discourses  were  respect- 
able, but  not  extraordinary.  It  may  be  said,  how- 
ever, of  his  performances  and  of  himself,  that  he 
never  made  great  pretensions,  and  never  wearied 
his  hearers  with  long  discourses.  It  has  often  been 
said  that  his  sermons  were  like  trees  with  more 
fruit  than  blossoms  or  foliage.  He  was  punctual. 
It  was  a  rare  occurrence  for  him  to  be  absent  from, 
or  too  late  at,  an  appointment.  It  is  said  that  his 
judgment  of  law  and  the  order  of  business  in  quar- 
terly conferences  commanded  universal  respect.  He 
was  an  unassuming,  modest  man,  clothed  with  hu- 
mility, uniformly  pious.  Indeed,  we  think,  what 
was  said  of  Barnabas  might  in  truth  be  applied  to 
him,  '  He  was  a  good  man,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  of  faith.'  He  died  well.  The  religion  he  had 
so  long  and  faithfully  preached  to  others  was  his 
theme  and  solace  in  the  chamber  of  his  sickness 
and  on  his  dying  bed.  While  his  vigorous  consti- 
tution and  retentive  memory  were  yielding  to  the 
weight  of  years  and  the  power  of  disease,  his  inner 
man,  unimpaired,  not  only  retained  but  magnified 
the  grace  of  God  in  Christ.  The  same  cheerful- 
ness of  mind  which  had  alleviated  the  burdens  and 
sweetened  the  sorrows  of  life,  now  imparted  its  hal- 
lowing influences  to  the  closing  scene."  3 

JAMES  LOWRY  traveled  but  two  years.  He  was 
received  into  the  Missouri  Conference  in  1818,  and 
appointed  to  Mt.  Prairie  and  Pecan  Point.  At 
the  close  of  his  year  on  Okaw  Circuit  he  was  dis- 
continued, and  we  have  no  further  account  of  him. 

3  General  Minutes. 


PROSPERITY. 


167 


v. 


1820. 


ILLINOIS  DISTRICT—  David  Sharp,  P.  E. 
Illinois—  Alexander  McAllister. 
Okaw—  Hackaliah  Vredenburg. 
Cash  River  —  Francis  Moore. 
Wabash  —  Thomas  Davis. 
Mt.  Carmel  —  John  Stewart. 
/S'em</amo—  James  Simms. 
Shoal  Creek  —  Josiah  Patterson. 

THE  year  1820  was  a  very  prosperous  one  for 
Methodism  in  Illinois.  It  began  with  a  re- 
vival, and  revival  influences  were  felt  in  most  of  the 
districts  throughout  the  entire  year.  The  session  of 
the  Missouri  Conference  was  held  at  Shiloh,  in  the 
Illinois  Circuit,  beginning  September  13th.  Bishop 
Roberts  presided.  In  connection  with  the  confer- 
ence session,  as  was  then  the  almost  universal  prac- 
tice in  the  West,  a  camp-meeting  was  held,  which 
continued  for  nearly  two  weeks.  Ovgr  one  hun- 
dred persons  were  converted.  It  was,  as  S.  H. 
Thompson  declared,  "  a  grand  jubilee,"  and  the 
preachers  went  out  from  it  to  their  new  fields  of 
labor,  "  strong  in  the  Lord  and  in  the  power  of  his 
might."  The  number  of  circuits  in  the  district 
was  increased  from  five  to  seven.  The  Shoal  Creek 
Circuit  was  now  established  as  a  permanent  charge, 


1 68  ME  TIIODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

and  a  new  circuit  was  formed  in  the  rapidly  settling 
Sangaraon  region.  The  name  of  this  circuit  was 
first  written  Sangamo,  then  Sangamaugh,  then  San- 
gama,  and  finally  Sangamon.  This  region  began  to 
be  settled  about  1817.  In  that  year  Henry  Fun- 
derburk  settled  on  Horse  Creek.  The  next  year 
the  Drennans,  William  and  Joseph,  whose  house  was 
afterwards  a  preaching-place,  settled  on  Sugar  Creek, 
a  few  miles  from  where  Chatham  now  stands.  In 
1819  JOSEPH  DIXON,  who  had  settled  at  Shiloh,  in 
St.  Glair  County,  as  early  as  1806,  moved  to  San- 
gamon County,  and  settled  on  Horse  Creek.  His 
home  was  also  one  of  the  first  preaching-places, 
and  he  became  one  of  the  most  efficient  stewards  in 
the  circuit.  His  conversion  was  under  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances. He  was  a  great  hunter,  and  frequently 
made  long  trips  to  the  unsettled  portions  of  the 
country,  returning  from  them  laden  with  peltries. 
In  connection  with  two  others,  he  had  gone  on  a 
trapping  expedition  several  hundred  miles  up  the 
Missouri  River.  He  spent  two  Winters  there — the 
first  with  his  companions,  in  a  cave  dug  out  of  the 
side  of  a  hill,  and  the  second  alone ;  for  his  com- 
panions had  quarreled  with  him  and  deserted  him. 
Whilst  ther<i  in  solitude,  his  eyes  became  inflamed, 
and  he  eventually  lost  his  sight.  In  this  helpless 
condition,  reflecting  upon  his  past  life  and  his  want 
of  preparation  for  death,  he  fell  upon  his  knees  and 
asked  God  to  have  mercy  on  him  and  deliver  him, 
promising  that  if  he  would  deliver  him,  he  would 
serve  him  all  the  rest  of  his  life.  His  prayer  was 
heard ;  he  was  directed  to  the  use  of  means  by 


NATHAN  SCARRITT.  169 

which  his  sight  was  restored ;  and  as  he  recognized 
in  tliis  the  hand  of  God,  and  fell  before  him  to  re- 
turn thanks  for  the  cure  that  had  been  wrought,  he 
felt  a  sweet  peace  filling  his  soul,  and  then  realized 
that  his  sins  were  forgiven  and  he  was  made  a  child 
of  God.  In  the  Summer,  after  a  successful  season 
of  trapping,  after  many  narrow  escapes,  he  returned 
to  St.  Louis,  sold  his  furs  for  several  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  then,  with  his  family,  from  whom  he  had 
been  absent  nearly  three  years,  removed  to  the  San- 
gamon  country,  and  became  a  useful  and  active 
steward  and  cxhorter  in  the  Church.  In  the  Spring 
of  1821,  a  church,  to  which  the  name  of  Zion 
Chapel  was  given,  was  built  chiefly  by  his  agency, 
and  to  which  he  afterwards  deeded  five  acres  of 
ground  for  church  and  cemetery  purposes.  It  con- 
tinued to  be  used  for  worship  until  1843,  when  it 
was  burned  down.  Mr.  Dixon  died  at  the  resi- 
dence of  a  daughter,  in  Morgan  County,  in  1844. 

Another  person  who  settled  in  Sangamon  County 
this  year,  and  became  an  active  and  influential 
Methodist,  was  JOHN  COOPER.  He  was  born  in 
South  Carolina,  June  3,  1794,  but  with  his  parents 
moved  to  Tennessee  in  childhood.  He  was  a  faith- 
ful, laborious,  and  useful  local  preacher,  preaching 
nearly  as  much  as  the  traveling  preachers,  and  with 
great  acceptability  to  the  people.  He  was  a  justice 
of  the  peace  and  county  commissioner  for  many 
years.  He  died  in  June,  1860. 

In  the  Fall  of  this  year  NATHAN  SCARRITT  and 
his  wife  Latty  moved  from  New  Hampshire  to  Ed- 
wardsville,  Illinois.  He  was  born  in  Connecticut, 

15 


170 


METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


she  in  New  Hampshire.  They  were  married  about 
1812.  Both  were  religious  before  marriage.  They 
were  the  parents  of  ten  sons  and  two  daughters. 
In  1821  they  moved  from  Edwardsville  to  Scarritt's 
Prairie.  When  he  went  to  the  spot  he  had  selected 
to  build  a  house,  he  laid  down  his  tools  and  knelt 
upon  the  prairie-grass,  and  invoked  God's  blessing. 
The  family  altar  was  a  fixture  in  his  dwelling,  and 
incense  ascended  as  regularly  as  the  morning  and 
evening  meal  were  eaten.1  He  died  fully  conscious, 
and  in  great  peace  and  holy  triumph,  December  12, 
1847.  He  was,  during  most  of  his  religious  life, 
an  officer  in  the  Church,  and  as  a  class-leader  he 
had  few  superiors.  His  wife  lived  a  widow  twenty- 
eight  years,  and  died  at  her  son's,  in  Kansas  City, 
December  7,  1875.  Of  their  sons,  Dr.  N.  Scarritt 
is  an  honored  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South,  and  Jotharn  A.  Scarritt  has  been  for 
many  years  an  active  and  influential  minister  in  the 
Southern  Illinois  Conference. 

Other  settlements  were  formed  about  the  same 
time  on  Rock  Creek  and  Spring  Creek.  The  newly 
formed  circuit  embraced  the  settlements  on  both 
sides  of  the  Sangamon  River  and  the  streams  run- 
ning into  it ;  and  as  this  was  for  some  time  the  most 
northern  circuit  in  the  district,  the  preachers  fol- 
lowed up  the  rapidly  extending  settlements,  until 
in  1824  the  circuit  reached  as  far  north  as  Ran- 
dolph Grove,  in  what  is  now  McLean  County. 

On  most  of  the  charges  there  was  an  increase  in 
the  membership  this  year,  Cash  River  being  the 

1  Rev.  J.  A.  Scarritt 


THE  CORRIE  FAMILY.  '  171 

only  one  reporting  a  decrease.  The  camp-meeting 
season  was  especially  prosperous.  A  large  number 
were  held  in  the  district,  two  or  three  in  each 
charge,  and  at  most  of  them  large  numbers  were 
converted.  Two  of  these  meetings  were  held  on 
the  Mt.  Carmel  Circuit  this  year,  of  which  Mr. 
Beauchamp  gives  an  account  that  is  quoted  by  Dr. 
Bangs  in  his  history  of  the  Church.  The  first  was 
held  about  thirty-five  miles  south-west  of  Mt.  Car- 
mel, commencing  on  Friday  and  closing  on  the  fol- 
lowing Monday.  About  twenty  professed  faith  in 
Christ.  The  second  was  held  near  Mt.  Carmel, 
continuing  for  the  same  time,  and  resulted  in  the 
conversion  of  about  forty-five,  twenty-three  of 
whom  united  with  the  Church.  Among  the  con- 
verts were  the  CORRIE  family,  who  had  removed 
from  Kircudbright  County,.  Scotland,  the  year  be- 
fore, and  had  settled  some  miles  north  of  Mt.  Car- 
mel, in  what  was  afterwards  Lawrence  County. 
The  family  had  been  raised  Presbyterians ;  but  the 
mother  only  knew  any  thing  of  experimental  re- 
ligion. At  the  camp-meeting,  the  father,  his  son 
John,  then  a  youth  of  seventeen,  three  daughters, 
and  two  cousins,  who  had  come  to  America  with 
them,  were  all  converted  in  the  course  of  a  few 
hours,  and  united  with  the  Church.  John,  in  1834, 
removed  to  Schuyler  County,  and  for  many  years 
has  been  a  pillar  in  the  Church.  The  eldest  daugh- 
ter, Agnes,  married  John  Scrijvps,  and  was  long  a 
mother  in  Israel,  and  all  the  family,  so  far  as  known, 
held  fast  their  confidence  unto  the  end. 

The  Gospel   continued  to  spread  and  new  soci- 


172  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

etics  to  be  formed  as  the  settlements  extended.  This 
year  the  first  sermon  was  preached  in  what  after- 
wards bceame  Macoupin  County.  The  preacher 
was  PARHAM  RAXDLE,  a  local  preacher,  who  was 
then  living  near  Ed  wards  vi  lie,  and  the  place  was 
the  cabin  of  Richard  Chapman,  in  what  is  now 
Dorchester  Township.  Mr.  Chapman's  house  con- 
tinued to  be  a  preaching-place  for  several  years. 

This  year  JACOB  LURTOX  moved  from  Kentucky, 
and  settled  on  the  Piasa,  a  few  miles  from  Alton, 
where  he  became  an  active  laborer.  He  had  en- 
tered Hie  traveling  connection  in  1786,  and  had 
traveled  in  succession  the  West  Jersey  Circuit,  in 
New  Jersey;  Berkeley,  in  Virginia;  Redstone,  in 
Pennsylvania;  Clarksburg  and  Kanawha,  in  Vir- 
ginia; Baltimore  and  Harford,  in  Maryland;  Salt 
River,  in  Kentucky;  and  Cumberland,  in  Tennes- 
see and  Kentucky.  While  in  this  circuit  he  preached 
in  the  cabin  of  the  father  of  Peter  Cartwright  with 
great  power,  while  the  congregation  were  melted  to 
tears.  His  health  having  failed,  he  retired  from 
the  itinerant  work,  and  spent  the  rest  of  his  days 
in  a  local  relation,  preaching,  however,  whenever  his 
health  would  permit.  He  was  an  original  genius, 
a  real  son  of  thunder,  and  a  faithful  and  useful 
minister  of  the  Gospel.  He  died  at  his  home  in 
Illinois  in  great  peace. 

The  increase  in  membership  for  the  entire  dis- 
trict was  530,  and  the  whole  number  of  members 
reported  was  2,401  whites,  and  20  colored. 

ALEXANDER  MCALLISTER,  who  was  this  year 
sent  to  Illinois  Circuit,  was  a  native  of  Kentucky. 


ALEXANDER  MCALLISTER.  173 

He  was  converted  in  the  Fall  of  1812,  was  received 
in  the  Missouri  Conference  in  1816,  and  appointed 
to  Cape  Girardeau  and  New  Madrid.  With  the 
exception  of  his  year  in  Illinois,  his  whole  itinerant 
life  was  spent  in  Missouri.  Between  his  admission 
and  1832,  when  he  finally  located,  he  was  seven 
years  on  circuits,  four  years  presiding  elder,  two 
years  superannuated,  one  year  supernumerary,  and 
two  years  local.  After  his  last  location  he  entered 
into  the  mercantile  business  in  Rushville,  Illinois, 
in  partnership  with  John  Scripps,  and  died  at  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Scripps,  in  March,  1834,  while  his 
family  were  still  residing  in  St.  Louis.  Mr.  McAl- 
lister was  tall  and  rather  slender  in  form,  very 
pleasant  and  affable  in  manner,  a  preacher  of  more 
than  ordinary  ability,  always  well  received  in  his 
charges,  and  popular  with  those  to  whom  he  minis- 
tered. "  Though  a  mechanic,  with  a  very  limited 
education  at  the  beginning  of  his  ministerial  career, 
he  very  soon  attained  a  high  position  as  a  preacher 
of  the  Gospel.  Indeed,  he  seems  to  have  had  few 
equals,  and  fswer,  if  any,  superiors  in  his  field  and 
day.  His  strong  mind,  original  power  of  thought, 
clear  perception,  and  cool  judgment  soon  made  him 
the  favorite  champion  of  the  cause  he  had  espoused ; 
and  this,  combined  with  his  indomitable  energy, 
decision  of  character,  and  strict  habits  of  study  and 
business,  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of  the  min- 
istry, where  he  made  a  deep  and  lasting  impression 
on  the  public  mind."2 

This  was  HACKALIAH  VEEDENBURG'S  first  year 

2  Dr.  McAn.illy. 


174  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

in  the  itinerancy.  He  was  born  in  Westchester 
County,  New  York,  May  10,  1790.  In  1817,  he 
settled  in  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  and  three  years 
afterwards  united  with  the  Missouri  Conference. 
After  filling  his  appointment  on  Okaw  Circuit,  he 
was  sent  in  1821  to  Wabash,  and  in  1822  to  Honey 
Creek.  In  1823  he  formed  the  Vermillion  Cir- 
cuit, to  which  he  was  returned  from  the  Illinois 
Conference  the  next  year.  In  1825  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  Crawfordsville,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
year  was  granted  a  location.  In  1831  he  was  read- 
mitted and  appointed  to  Logansport.  The  next 
year  he  fell  into  the  Indiana  Conference,  and  con- 
tinued to  travel  until  1840,  when  he  was  granted  a 
superannuated  relation,  in  which  he  continued  until 
his  death,  with  the  exception  of  one  year,  when  he 
traveled  Prairieville  Circuit.  In  1844  he  fell  into 
the  North  Indiana  Conference,  and  in  1852  into  the 
North-west  Indiana,  and  thus  was  a  member  of  five 
different  annual  conferences  without  ever  having 
been  transferred.  "  Most  of  Brother  Vredenburg's 
itinerant  life  was  spent  in  the  valley  of  the  Wabash. 
From  its  mouth  almost  to  its  source  he  preached, 
organizing  new  societies  and  circuits,  carrying  the 
Gospel  message  to  the  scattered  settlements,  and 
enduring  all  the  exposures  and  privations  of  pio- 
neer life.  In  one  of  his  charges  no  house  could  be 
found  to  shelter  his  wife  and  children  while  he  trav- 
eled his  circuit  of  three  or  four  hundred  miles  round. 
Rather  than  leave  his  work,  he  took  possession  of  a 
deserted  log  stable,  and,  fitting  it  up  with  his  own 
hands,  made  that  the  parsonage  for  the  year.  At 


JOHN  STEWART,  175 

other  times,  he  was  compelled  on  his  rest  days  to 
cultivate  a  small  piece  of  ground  to  supply  his  fam- 
ily with  food,  the  pittance  received  being  barely 
sufficient  to  furnish  them  with  clothing.  But  amid 
all  these  privations  and  dangers,  this  faithful  minis- 
ter was  always  at  his  post,  rarely  missing  an  ap- 
pointment, and  never  deserting  his  trust."3  One 
who  knew  him  well  for  nearly  fifty  years,  says  :  "  He 
was  a  good,  plain  preacher,  and  an  energetic,  good 
man.  He  died  at  the  residence  of  his  son-in-law 
in  Wisconsin,  January  23,  1869.  Before  his  death 
his  sight  had  become  dim  and  his  body  exceed- 
ingly feeble;  yet  his  mind  was  clear  and  strong, 
and  his  memory  of  the  incidents  and  labors  of  his 
itinerant  life  unimpaired.  When  told  by  his  physi- 
cian that  he  could  live  but  a  little  while,  and  that 
he  had  better  prepare  for  death,  he  replied,  "I 
have  been  doing  so  all  my  life." 

The  itinerant  career  of  FRANCIS  MOORE  began 
and  closed  on  the  Cash  River  Circuit.  He  was  re- 
ceived on  trial  in  the  conference  this  year,  returned 
to  the  circuit  in  1821,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year 
discontinued.  We  have  no  further  account  of  him. 

JOHN  STEWART  was  born  in  Sussex  County, 
New  Jersey,  in  1795.  In  his  twentieth  year  he 
was  converted  and  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  In  1817  he  was  received  in  the  Ohio 
Conference  and  appointed  to  Little  Kanawha  Cir- 
cuit. In  1818  he  was  sent  to  Mahoning,  and  in 
1819  was  transferred  to  the  Missouri  Conference, 
and  appointed  to  Blue  River.  At  the  close  of  his 

3  General  Minutes. 


176  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

year  at  Mt.  Carmel,  he  was  assigned  to  Vincennes, 
and  the  next  year  was  transferred  again  to  the  Ohio 
Conference,  of  which  he  remained  a  member  until 
death.  For  fifty  years  he  sustained  an  effective 
relation  to  the  Church,  serving  as  presiding  elder 
for  eleven  years,  and  laboring  on  circuits  and  sta- 
tions thirty-nine  years.  In  1866  he  was  placed  on 
the  superannuated  list,  and  continued  in  that  relation 
until  his  death,  March  10,  1876.  "He  was  a  good 
preacher  and  a  wise  administrator.  Truly  devoted 
to  God  and  the  interests  of  the  Church  of  his  choice, 
he  gave  full  proof  of  his  calling  as  a  minister  of 
the  Word.  On  some  of  his  charges  he  was  emi- 
nently successful  in  winning  souls  to  Christ." 4 
His  year  on  the  Mt.  Carmel  Circuit  was  a  very 
laborious  one,  as  well  as  a  very  successful  one.  His 
labors  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  his  circuit  em- 
braced four  county  seats,  those  of  Edwards,  Craw- 
ford, Clark,  and  Wayne  Counties,  and  his  success  is 
seen  in  the  increase  of  the  membership  from  146 
to  310. 

JAMES  SIMMS  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  In  early 
life  he  moved  to  South  Carolina,  where  he  married. 
He  afterwards  removed  to  Kentucky,  thence  to  St. 
Clair  County,  Illinois,  and  in  the  Spring  of  1820 
to  Sangarnon  County.  He  settled  on  Sugar  Creek, 
where  he  built  a  horse-mill,  quarrying  the  stone 
and  preparing  the  burrs  for  his  mill  himself.  He 
was  converted  when  young,  and  licensed  to  preach 
while  in  Kentucky.  He  labored  as  a  traveling 
preacher  only  this  year,  and  was  discontinued  at  its 

4  General  Minutes. 


JAMES  SIMMS.  177 

close.  On  the  organization  of  Sangamon  County 
he  was  appointed  treasurer,  but  refused  to  qualify. 
He  was  the  first  representative  from  the  county  in 
the  State  Legislature.  He  afterwards  moved  to 
Morgan  County,  where  in  February,  1829,  he  aided 
in  forming  the  first  Methodist  Protestant  Church 
in  Illinois,  of  which  he  became  the  first  circuit 
preacher.  He  was  a  tall  venerable  looking  man, 
mild  in  his  manners,  kind-hearted,  very  devout,  and 
possessed  of  the  qualities  that  made  men  popular 
in  those  early  days.  He  was  said  to  be  a  power- 
ful preacher.  He  died  of  consumption  February 
20,  1844. 


178  MET  HOD  ISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


vi. 

1821. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT— David  Sharp,  P.  E. 

Ml.  Car md—  Robert  Delap. 

Wabasli — Hackaliah  Vredenburg,  Tliomas  Rice. 

Cash  River — Francis  Moore. 

Okaiv — Josiah  Patterson. 

Illinois — James  Scott,  Parham  Handle. 

Shoal  Creek — Jesse  Haile,  Jacob  Whitesides,  Sup. 

Sangamon—Jolm  Glanville. 

THE  sixth  session  of  the  Missouri  Conference 
was  held  at  McKcndree  Chapel,  Cape  Girar- 
(1  o«iu  County,  Missouri,  beginning  October  17th. 
Bishop  George  presided.  The  appointments  in  Illi- 
nois remained  the  same  as  they  were  the  year  before, 
but  more  laborers  were  employed.  To  the  Wabash, 
Illinois,  and  Shoal  Creek  Circuits  were  assigned  two 
men  each.  The  year  was  not  marked  by  extensive 
revivals,  no  circuit  reporting  a  large  increase,  and 
only  thirty-six  additional  members  being  returned 
in  the  entire  district.  Yet  there  was  some  progress 
made  in  the  organization  of  new  societies,  and  the 
spread  of  Methodism  in  the  new  settlements.  The 
first  society  was  formed  this  year  in  Jacksonville. 
John  Glanville,  who  was  on  the  Sangamon  Circuit, 
formed  a  class  in  the  house  of  John  Jordan  in  the 
east  part  of  the  town,  and  this  continued  to  be  the 


SPRINGFIELD.  179 

preaching  place  for  several  years.  It  was  after- 
wards moved  to  the  log  school-house,  which  was 
used  by  Methodists  and  Presbyterians  alternately, 
until  church  edifices  were  erected  by  them.  But 
the  honor  of  introducing  the  Gospel  into  Jackson- 
ville belongs  to  JOSEPH  BASEY,  a  local  preacher, 
who  had  settled  south-west  of  Jerseyville,  but  who 
afterwards  removed  to  Morgan  County.  In  1821 
he  preached  the  first  sermon  in  the  county,  and 
continued  his  labors  as  a  pioneer  to  the  new-comers 
until  the  settlements  were  organized  into  a  circuit. 
He  was  elected  to  deacon's  orders  at  the  conference 
of  1835.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Platteville, 
Wisconsin,  and  entered  upon  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine, to  which  he  had  been  educated.  He  was  a 
very  useful  and  successful  local  preacher,  and  quite 
successful  in  his  profession  as  a  physician.  He  lived 
and  died  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.1 

The  first  society  was  also  formed  this  year  in 
Springfield  through  the  instrumentality  of  James 
Simms.  The  society  worshiped  in  the  house,  and 
sometimes  in  the  office  of  C.  R.  Matheny,  the 
county  clerk ;  afterwards  in  a  school-house,  and  it 
was  not  until  1830  that  a  church  was  erected.  This 
year,  too,  the  Sharon  Society  was  organized  in  Fay- 
ette  County,  about  a  mile  east  of  the  present  town 
of  Vera.  Here  WILLIAM.  PADON  was  converted 
this  year,  who  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1835,  and 
has  ever  since  been  a  most  laborious  and  successful 
local  preacher. 

The  whole  number  of  members  reported  for  the 

1  Rev.  N.  P.  Heath. 


180  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

year  was  2,417  whites  and  40  colored.  Several  new 
names  appear  in  the  district  this  year. 

ROBERT  DELAP  united  with  the  Ohio  Confer- 
ence in  1819.  His  first  appointment  was  Miami. 
The  next  year  he  traveled  the  Scioto  Circuit.  In 
1821  he  became  a  member  of  Missouri  Conference 
and  was  appointed  to  Mt.  Carmel.  The  next  year 
he  was  on  the  superannuated  list,  and  the  following 
year  he  was  changed  to  supernumerary  and  sent  to 
the  Vermillion  Circuit  with  H.  Vredenburg.  In 
1824  he  fell  into  the  Illinois  Conference  and  was 
returned  to  Vermillion,  the  following  year  he  was 
sent  to  Carmi,  in  1826  to  Wabash,  and  in  1827  he 
was  again  placed  on  the  superannuated  list,  on 
which  he  continued  two  years.  He  was  appointed 
to  Paris  in  1829,  and  then  for  seven  years  was  su- 
perannuated. In  1837  he  was1  sent  to  Buffalo  Grove 
Circuit;  at  the  close  of  the  year  he  was  again  su- 
perannuated. In. 1840  he  fell  into  the  Rock  River 
Conference,  remaining  in  a  superannuated  relation 
until  1843,  when  he  was  appointed  to  Sugar  River 
Circuit.  At  the  close  of  the  year  he  located.  He 
was  a  man  of  medium  size,  somewhat  odd  in  his 
manners,  an  independent  thinker,  and  always  pre- 
senting something  original  in  his  sermons.2 

THOMAS  RICE  united  first  with  the  Baltimore 
Conference  in  1819.  After  traveling  the  Pendleton 
and  New  River  Circuits,  he  was  transferred  to  the 
Missouri  Conference,  in  which  he  labored  in  suc- 
cession on  Wabash,  Sangamon,  and  Flat  Rock  cir- 
cuits. In  1824  he  fell  into  the  Illinois  Conference, 

'•'John  Corrie. 


PARHAM  RANDLE.  181 

but  remained  in  it  only  one  year  on  the  Rushville 
Circuit  in  Indiana,  when  lie  was  transferred  to  the 
Holston  Conference,  in  which  he  continued  to  travel 
until  1837,  when  he  located. 

JAMES  SCOTT  was  received  on  trial  in  the  Mis- 
souri Conference  in  1819,  but  his  appointment  does 
not  appear  in  the  General  Minutes.  In  1820  he 
was  sent  to  Cedar  Creek,  in  1821  to -Illinois  Cir- 
cuit, and  in  1822  to  Indianapolis.  At  the  close  of 
the  year  he  located.  In  1820  he  was  readmitted 
in  the  Illinois  Conference  and  appointed  to  Madi- 
son, the  next  year  to  Whitewater,  and  the  next  to 
Charlestown.  With  the  exception  of  three  years  in 
which  he  was  local,  he  continued  in  connection  with 
the  conferences  in  Indiana  until  1860,  when  he  was 
deposed  from  the  ministry  by  the  North-west  Indi- 
ana Conference. 

PARHAM  HANDLE  was  received  in  the  Missouri 
Conference  in  1821,  traveled  two  years  on  the  Illi- 
nois and  Shoal  Creek  Circuits,  and  in  1823,  at  his 
own  request,  was  discontinued.  He  was  a  son  of 
Richard  Handle  of  Montgomery  County,  North 
Carolina,  and  afterwards  of  Richmond,  Virginia, 
where  he  kept  a  tavern.  His  house  was  the  first 
Methodist  preaching  place  in  Richmond.  Richard 
Boardman  and  Bishop  Wrhatcoat  held  the  first 
Methodist  meeting  there,  and  the  landlord,  Richard 
Randle,  was  converted  at  it.  Parham,  his  son, 
moved  to  Illinois  in  1818  or  1819,  and  settled  first 
near  Edwardsville,  in  Madison  County.  He  was 
then  thirty-five  or  forty  years  old,  and  was  a  local 
preacher  of  some  ability.  Whilst  traveling  the 


182  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Shoal  Creek  Circuit  lie  lived  in  a  leaky  house,  and 
his  wife  took  a  severe  cold  in  it,  which  resulted  in 
consumption,  and,  after  a  few  years,  caused  her 
death.  She  died  in  triumph.  But  her  illness  com- 
pelled Mr.  Randle  to  cease  traveling.  After  his 
wife's  death  he  deeded  his  property  to  his  children, 
and  lived  with  his  son-in-law  at  Lebanon.  In  1829 
we  find  him  elected  to  elder's  orders  by  the  annual 
conference  at  Edwardsvillc.  He  continued  to  be  a 
useful  and  acceptable  local  preacher  as  long  as  he 
was  able  to  preach.  On  his  death-bed,  when  asked 
by  Rev.  T.  Peeples,  "  Uncle  Parham,  where  are  you 
going  when  you  leave  us?"  his  answer  was,  "Why, 
direct  to  heaven."  He  was  a  good  man,  full  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  loved  by  all  who  knew  him.3 

This  was  JOHN  GLANVILLE'S  first  year  in  the 
conference.  After  a  successful  year  on  the  Sanga- 
mon  Circuit,  he  traveled  in  Missouri  until  1829, 
when  he  located.  The  next  year  he  was  readmitted, 
and  continued  in  the  work,  filling  many  of  the 
most  important  appointments,  and  serving  two  years 
as  presiding  elder  until  1845,  when,  with  his  con- 
ference, he  went  into  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South.  "He  was  an  Englishman  of  a  good 
type,  a  man  of  superior  preaching  ability  and  Chris- 
tian character,"4  "a  companionable,  intellectual, 
able  minister  of  the  Gospel,  distinguished  for  his 
originality."5 

3  Rev.  G.  D.  Randle. 

4  Rev.  J.  C.  Berryman.        5  Rev.  S.  G.  Patterson. 


METHODIST  FAMILIES.  183 


vn. 

1822. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT— Samuel  H.  Thompson,  P.  E. 

Mt.  Cnrmd — Samuel  Hull. 

WabasJt.  and  Mt.  Vernon — Josiah  Patterson,  Win.  II.  Smith. 

Kaskaskia — -Anthony  W.  Casad. 

Illinois — Jesse  Haile,  Cornelius  Ruddle. 

Cash  River—Jolm  Blaisdell. 

fflioal  Cm*— Parham  Randle,  William  Townsend. 

ftangamon — Thomas  Rice. 

Mississippi — Isaac  N.  Piggott. 

THE  session  of  the  Missouri  Conference  for  1822 
was  held  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  commencing 
October  24th.  Samuel  H.  Thompson  and  David 
Sharp  exchanged  districts,  the  former  being  again 
appointed  to  the  Illinois  District  and  the  latter  tak- 
ing Mr.  Thompson's  place  on  the  Missouri.  Two 
new  circuits  were  formed  this  year  in  Illinois,  the 
Mt.  Vernon  and  the  Mississippi,  and  the  name  of 
the  Okaw  Circuit  was  changed  to  Kaskaskia.  The 
Mt.  Vernon  Circuit,  however,  remained  connected 
with  the  W abash,  of  which  it  had  formed  a  part, 
though  the  members  are  reported  from  it  at  the  end 
of  the  year  as  from  a  separate  charge.  That  region 
had  been  settled  for  a  number  of  years.  The  Ca- 
seys,  Johnsons,  and  Maxeys,  and  various  other  Meth- 
odist families  among  the  early  settlers,  made  that 
one  of  the  strongest  circuits  in  the  district.  The 


184  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Mississippi  Circuit  was  formed  from  the  north  part 
of  the  Illinois  Circuit,  and  included  the  rapidly 
extending  settlements  now  embraced  in  the  counties 
of  Green,  Macoupin,  Jersey,  Scott,  and  Morgan. 
The  year,  like  the  preceding,  was  a  year  of  only 
moderate  success.  Yet  some  new  societies  were 
formed.  Among  them  was  one  which  afterwards 
became  an  important  and  influential  one,  the  Hope- 
well  society,  north  of  Carrollton,  which  was  this 
year  formed  in  the  house  of  John  Dodgson,  who 
had  moved  to  the  country  from  Yorkshire,  Eng- 
land, the  year  before.  Several  new  societies  in 
Morgan  County  were  also  organized  this  year  by  I. 
N.  Piggott.  There  was  an  increase  in  the  member- 
ship of  270,  the  report  at  conference  being  2,687 
white  and  40  colored. 

Among  the  new  settlers  in  the  country  this  year 
who  became  influential  members  of  the  Church, 
was  REUBEN  HAERISON,  a  native  of  Rockingham 
County,  Virginia,  who  had  moved  to  Kentucky  in 
1818,  and  in  November,  1822,  settled  on  Richland 
Creek,  in  Sangamon  County.  For  many  years  he  was 
a  faithful  steward  and  leader  and  active  worker  on 
the  Sangamon  Circuit,  and  his  house  was  a  preach- 
ers' house.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable  energy. 
In  1826,  in  company  with  W.  B.  Renshaw,  whose 
house  for  years  was  a  preaching-place,  he  started 
for  New  Orleans  from  the  mouth  of  Richland 
Creek  with  a  flat-boat  load  of  produce,  being  the 
second  that  ever  went  out  from  the  Sangamon 
River.  Mr.  Harrison  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and 
died  highly  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 


SAMUEL  HULL.  185 

The  following  brethren  appear  in  connection 
with  the  work  in  Illinois  for  the  first  time. 

SAMUEL  HULL,  who  was  this  year  on  the  Mt. 
Carmel  Circuit,  had  just  been  received  in  the  Mis- 
souri Conference.  In  1823  he  was  assigned  to 
Honey  Creek.  During  the  year  a  charge  of  im- 
moral conduct  was  presented  against  him.  The 
case  was  investigated  by  a  committee,  and  he  was 
suspended  until  conference.  The  following  extract 
from  the  Journal  of  the  Illinois  Conference  at  its 
first  session  in  1824,  will  show  the  merits  of  the 
case,  and  is  inserted  as  an  act  of  justice  to  Mr.  Hull: 
"  The  case  of  Samuel  Hull  being  taken  up,  charges 
of  an  immoral  nature,  on  the  testimony  of  Eliza- 
beth Wallaee,  amounting  to  an  attempt  on  her  chas- 
tity, and  for  which  he  now  stands  suspended,  were 
laid  before  the  conference.  The  circumstances  of 
the  case  being  duly  considered,  together  with  the 
character  of  the  woman  and  the  manner  of  her  act- 
ing on  the  occasion,  the  conference  was  fully  con- 
vinced of  his  innocence ;  and,  on  motion  of  Brother 
Monroe,  seconded  by  Brother  Glanville,  the  sen- 
tence of  the  committee  who  had  suspended  him  was 
reversed.  His  character  was  examined,  approved, 
and  he  was  admitted  into  full  connection  and  elected 
to  deacon's  orders."  He  was  returned  to  the  Honey 
Creek  Circuit  the  next  year;  and,  before  its  close, 
his  innocence  of  the  charge  that  had  been  made 
against  him  was  fully  established.  A  young  man, 
who  was  dying,  confessed  that  it  was  he  who  had 
been  guilty  in  the  affair,  and  that  the  preacher  was 

entirely    innocent.      At   the   close    of   the   year   he 
16 


1 86  ME  T  HOD  ISM  IN  IL  L  L\0  IS. 

located  and  settled  in  the  Vincennes  Circuit  in  In- 
diana. He  was  a  large,  good-looking  man,  and  an 
excellent  preacher;  very  emotional,  weeping  much 
while  preaching,  and  very  zealous  and  faithful  in 
his  work. 

WILLIAM  H.  SMITH,  the  junior  preacher  on 
Wabash  and  Mt.  Vernon  Circuit,  commenced  this 
year  an  itinerant  career  that  continued  for  fifty-six 
years.  He  was  a  native  of  Georgia,  born  in  1796. 
His  parents  were  elevated  Christians.  His  mother 
died  when  he  was  only  two  years  old ;  but  his  godly 
father  trained  him  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity. 
When  he  was  seven  years  old  his  family  removed 
to  Kentucky,  and  when  he  was  fifteen  he  was  con- 
verted and  received  into  the  Church  by  Marcus 
Lindsay.  Having  removed  to  White  County,  Illi- 
nois, he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  recommended 
to  the  Missouri  Conference  in  1822,  and  received 
his  appointment  as  junior  preacher  to  the  circuit  in 
which  he  lived.  He  was  returned  as  preacher  in 
charge  of  the  same  circuit  the  next  year.  In  1824 
he  fell  into  the  Illinois  Conference,  and  was  sent  to 
Patoka,  and  the  next  year  to  Booneville.  In  1826 
he  was  appointed  to  Paoli,  a  six-weeks'  circuit,  and 
during  the  year  several  hundred  were  converted. 
During  his  term  on  Eel  River  Circuit,  which  he 
traveled  in  1827-8,  six  hundred  souls  were  con- 
verted and  brought  into  the  Church.  The  next 
year  he  Avas  sent  to  Carlisle,  and  in  1830  to  Paris 
Circuit,  which  then  included  Edgar,  Coles,  and 
Clark  Counties,  in  Illinois,  and  Vigo  and  Vermill- 
ion  Counties,  in  Indiana.  He  continued  to  travel 


ANftlONY  W.  CASAD. 


187 


in  the  Indiana,  North  Indiana,  and  North-west  In- 
diana Conferences,  into  which  he  successively  fell 
by  the  division  of  the  work,  until  1866,  when  he 
finally  ceased  his  labors  in  the  active  ranks  of  the 
ministry,  and  waited  as  superannuate  until  his 
change  should  come.  "  During  his  last  days  he  de- 
lighted to  speak  of  the  past,  with  its  labors  and 
triumphs.  He  never  seemed  happier  than  when 
talking  of  the  noble  and  glorious  band  of  men  with 
whom  he  had  labored  and  won  so  many  victories 
for  God  and  the  Church." '  His  death,  which  oc- 
curred at  Greencastle,  Indiana,  September  28,  1878, 
was  quiet,  peaceful,  and  triumphant. 

ANTHONY  W.  CASAD  was  a  native  of  New  Jer- 
sey. He  removed  first  to  Greene  County,  Ohio,  and 
about  1820  to  Illinois.  In  1821  he  was  received 
on  trial  in  the  Missouri  Conference.  His  first  ap- 
pointment was  Buffalo,  and  his  second  Kaskaskia. 
At  the  conference  of  1823  he  was  ordained  deacon, 
received  into  full  membership,  and  then  granted  a 
location.  He  settled  in  St.  Clair  County,  near  Leb- 
anon. In  1828  he  was  elected  to  elder's  orders  as 
a  local  preacher.  He  afterwards  resigned  his  min- 
isterial authority,  and  surrendered  his  certificates 
of  orders  to  the  Church,  and  remained  during  the 
rest  of  his  life  a  lay  member.  As  a  preacher,  he 
was  logical  and  instructive,  but  slow  and  tedious. 
He  was  naturally  very  fond  of  metaphysics.  He 
was  a  good  preacher,  but  not  a  revivalist.  As  a 
citi/en,  he  was  highly  esteemed.  After  his  retire- 
ment from  the  ministry  he  engaged  in  the  practice 

1  General  Minutes. 


188  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

of  medicine,  and,  as  his  services  were  demanded, 
served  also  as  surveyor,  school-teacher,  and  tailor. 
For  many  years  he  was  a  trustee  of  McKcndree 
College.  He  died  in  great  peace,  full  of  faith  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  at  his  residence  near  Summerfield, 
Illinois,  about  1860.  One  of  his  daughters  was 
married  to  Rev.  C.  D.  James,  of  the  Illinois  Con- 
ference. 

CORNELIUS  RUDDLE  was  received  on  trial  in  the 
Missouri  Conference  in  1822,  and  appointed  to  Illi- 
nois Circuit.  The  next  year  he  was  sent  to  Wa- 
bash  and  Mt.  Vcrnon,  and  the  following  year  he 
was  returned  from  the  Illinois  Conference  to  the 
Wabash  Circuit.  In  1825  he  located.  Three  years 
afterwards  he  was  again  received  on  trial — though 
why  he  was  not  readmitted  the  journal  does  not 
show — and  assigned  to  Madison,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  year  was  discontinued,  at  his  own  request. 

JOHN  BLAISDELL  united  with  the  Missouri  Con- 
ference in  1821,  and  was  sent  to  Lamoine.  After 
his  year  on  Cash  River  he  continued  traveling  in 
the  Missouri  Conference  until  its  session  in  1826, 
when  he  located. 

WILLIAM  TOWNSEND  had  been  traveling  in  the 
Missouri  Conference  since  1817.  At  the  close  of 
his  year  on  Shoal  Creek  he  located.  He  was  rec- 
ommended for  readmission  to  the  conference  of 
1827,  but  was  not  received,  though  the  presiding 
elder  had  liberty  to  employ  him,  should  he  deem 
it  expedient. 

ISAAC  N.  PIGGOTT  was  received  on  trial  in  the 
Missouri  Conference  in  1819,  traveled  two  years  in 


ISAAC  N.  PIGGOTT.  189 

Missouri,  and  was  discontinued.  This  year  he  was 
received  again,  and  appointed,  as  stated  above,  to 
the  Mississippi  Circuit,  to  which  he  was  returned 
the  following  year.  In  1824  he  located,  and  settled 
in  the  circuit  he  had  been  traveling.  Mr.  Piggott 
was  for  some  years  a  prominent  man  in  the  State,  as 
well  as  in  the  Church.  Having  settled  south-west 
of  Jerseyville,  he  obtained  from  the  Legislature  a 
ferry  license  across  the  Mississippi  between  Grafton 
and  Alton  in;1821.  He  afterwards  entered  the  po- 
litical field,  and  ran  against  Thomas  Carlin  (subse- 
quently governor)  for  State  senator,  and  both  re- 
ceived certificates  of  election.  The  senate  ordered 
a  new  election,  and  Mr.  Piggott  was  defeated.  He 
was  possessed  of  strong  native  talent,  and  was  a 
forcible  speaker.  After  his  location  he  turned  his 
attention  to  law,  and  left  the  Church.  When  J.  B. 
Wollard  traveled  the  Grafton  Circuit  he  professed 
to  be  reclaimed,  reunited  with  the  Church,  and  was 
again  licensed  to  preach.  But  he  was  shorn  of  his 
strength,  and  after  remaining  in  the  Church  for  a 
few  years,  he  again  left  it.  In  1858  he  removed  to 
St.  Louis,  where  he  resided  until  his  death,  in  1874, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 


190  METHODISM  IX  ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
1823. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT — Samuel  II.  Thompson,    P.  E. 

Ml.  Carmd — William  McReynolds. 

Wabask  and  Ml.  Vernon — William  H.  Smith. 

Kaskaskia — Frederick  B.  Leach. 

Illinois— John  Dew,  Orceneth  Fisher. 

Cash  River — Josiah  Patterson. 

SJioal  Creek— Thomas  Davis,  Jesse  Green. 

Sangamon — John  Miller. 

Mississippi — Isaac  N.  Piggott. 

Vermillion — Hackaliah  Vredenburg,  Robert  Delap,  Sup. 

IN  1823  the  Missouri  Conference  sat  again  in  St. 
Louis,  beginning  its  session  October  23d.  A 
new  circuit,  the  Vermillion,  was  formed  this  year  in 
the  Illinois  District,  embracing  the  settlements  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Wabash  above  the  Mt.  Carmel 
Circuit.  This  region  began  to  be  settled  in  1817. 
In  that  year  Colonel  Jonathan  Mayo  came  to  the 
country  from  Kentucky,  and  settled  on  North  Arm 
Prairie,  then  included  in  Edwards  County;  and,  as 
has  been  stated  before,  the  first  class  in  that  region 
had  been  formed  in  his  house  by  Joseph  Curtis. 
Previous  to  the  formation  of  the  Vermillion  Circuit, 
in  addition  to  the  ministrations  of  the  local  preach- 
ers, the  settlements  had  been  occasionally  supplied 
with  circuit  preaching,  first  from  the  Harrison,  and 
afterward  from  the  Honey  Creek  Circuits,  in  In- 


M'LEA  N  CO  UN  T  Y.  1 0 1 

diana.  Hackaliah  Vredenburg^.  who  then  traveled 
this  circuit,  preached  first  at  Colonel  Mayo's  in 
February  or  March,  1823,  and  in  August  of  that 
year  held,  near  the  same  place,  the  first  camp-meet- 
ing ever  held  in  the  Upper  AVabash  region  in  Illi- 
nois. He  was  assisted  by  Rev.  J.  W.  McReynolds, 
who  had  formerly  traveled  in  Kentucky,  but  was 
then  local,  and  had  recently  moved  to  the  neighbor- 
hood ;  by  Dr.  James  ;  by  a  local  preacher  named 
Robinson,  and  by  Alonzo  Lapham,  then  an  exhorter 
and  class-leader.  Dr.  James,  father  of  Rev.  0.  D. 
James,  of  the  Illinois  Conference,  was  a  tall,  straight 
man,  and  an  excellent  preacher.  Mr.  Robinson  was 
also  a  good  preacher.  One  of  his  sermons  is  re- 
membered to  this  day.  It  was  from  the  text,  "The 
Lord  knoweth  how  to  deliver  the  godly  out  of  temp- 
tation." Mr.  Lapham  afterwards  moved  to  Macon 
County,  where  he  received  license  to  preach.  Two 
of  his  sons  became  traveling  preachers.  About 
eighteen  persons  were  converted  at  the  camp-meet- 
ing, and  amongst  them  was  Colonel  Mayo. 

Mr.  Vredenburg  also  formed  the  first  class  this 
year  in  the  village  of  Paris,  which  had  been  laid 
off  during  the  Summer  as  the  county-seat  of  Edgar 
County.  The  society  was  formed  in  the  house  of 
Smith  Shaw,  father  of  Rev.  H.  S.  Shaw,  which  con- 
tinued to  be  the  preaching  place  until  the  court- 
house was  built. 

This  year  the  Gospel  was  introduced  into  what 
is  now  McLean  County.  The  first  sermon  was 
preached  by  Rev.  James  Stringfield  whilst  on  a 
visit  from  Kentucky;  this  was  in  the  Fall  of  1823, 


192  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

and  the  next  Summer  the  first  class  was  formed  by- 
Jesse  Walker  in  the  house  of  John  Hendricks,  who 
was  the  first  white  settler  in  Blooming  Grove.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  flourishing  Churches  in  the 
city  of  Bloomington. 

The  first  camp-meeting  in  what  was  afterwards 
Morgan  County  was  held  this  year  by  S.  TI.  Thomp- 
son on  Walnut  Creek,  near  Lynnville. 

The  year  was  a  more  prosperous  one  than  the 
district  had  known  for  some  time.  In  every  charge 
there  was  some  increase,  the  aggregate  being  485; 
making  in  all  3,155  whites  and  57  colored  members 
in  Illinois.  During  the  eight  years  in  which  the 
work  had  been  connected  with  the  Missouri  Con- 
ference the  membership  had  increased  from  968  to 
3,212,  and  the  preachers  from  six  to  fourteen. 

Six  new  men  were  assigned  to  the  work  in  Illi- 
nois this  year. 

WILLIAM  McREYNOLDS  was  born  in  Washing- 
ton County,  Virginia,  March  7,  1798,  but  with  his 
parents  moved  to  Kentucky  whilst  he  was  yet  a 
child,  and  settled  in  Allen  County.  His  parents 
were  devoted  Christians  and  brought  up  their  chil- 
dren in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 
In  1819,  in  a  powerful  revival  under  the  labors  of 
Charles  Holliday  and  others,  he  was  converted,  and 
soon  after  entered  upon  the  life  of  a  traveling 
preacher.  He  was  employed  for  a  few  months  un- 
der the  presiding  elder  on  the  Bowling  Green  Cir- 
cuit with  Andrew  Monroe;  and  in  1820  he  was  re- 
ceived into  the  Tennessee  Conference  and  assigned 
as  junior  preacher  to  the  Christian  Circuit,  with 


WILLIAM  MCREYNOLDS.  193 

Peter  Cartwright  as  his  colleague.  The  next  year 
he  labored  on  the  Middle  Island  Circuit  in  "Vir- 
ginia, and  in  1822  he  appears  in  the  Missouri  Con- 
ference as  appointed  to  Blue  River  Circuit  in  Indi- 
ana. The  following  year,  as  stated  above,  he  was 
on  the  Mt.  Carmel  Circuit,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
year  was  re-transferred  to  Kentucky,  where  he  la- 
bored until  1833,  when  he  located,  and  during  the 
remainder  of  his  life  he  served  the  Church  as  a  local 
preacher.  He  died  at  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  March  4, 
1868.  Dr.  Bedford 'says  of  him,  "In  the  several 
fields  of  ministerial  labor  he  occupied  he  made  full 
proof  of  his  ministry,  discharging  his  duty  with 
commendable  zeal.  Epistles,  known  and  read  of 
all  men,  were  to  be  found  in  the  vales  and  mount- 
ains through  which  he  passed  as  an  ambassador  of 
Jesus  Christ."  "A  man  of  commanding  personal 
appearance,  of  talents  above  mediocrity,  ardent  in 
his  piety,  and  of  popular  manners,  in  the  morning 
of  his  ministry  he  promised  much  to  the  Church. 
Retiring,  as  he  did,  from  the  active  duties  of  an 
itinerant,  in  the  full  strength  of  manhood,  how- 
ever useful  he  was  as  a  local  preacher,  the  sphere 
of  his  labors  was  too  circumscribed  to  give  to  his 
ministry  that  efficiency  for  which  it  was  designed. 
During  the  twenty-six  years  that  he  sustained 
the  relation  of  a  local  preacher  it  is  gratifying  to 
record  that  his  zeal  and  labors  in  behalf  of  the 
cause  of  Christ,  whether  in  the  pulpit  or  presiding 
over  institutions  of  learning,  entitled  him  to  the 
confidence  of  his  brethren ;  while  his  consistent 
piety  challenged  the  criticism  of  the  enemies  of  the 
17 


194  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

cross."  "  He  closed  his  eventful  career  as  the  pas- 
tor of  the  Seamen's  Bethel  at  Portsmouth,  Ohio. 
On  the  Sabbath  previous  to  his  death  he  preached 
twice  with  great  power.  On  Monday  and  Tuesday 
evenings,  though  complaining  of  indisposition,  we 
find  him  again  in  the  pulpit,  calling  sinners  to  re- 
pentance. On  the  following  Saturday,  in  great 
peace,  he  breathed  his  last." 

FREDERICK  B.  LEACH  waS  received  on  trial  in 
the  Missouri  Conference  in  1822,  and  appointed  to 
Lamoine  Circuit.  After  his  labors  on  the  Kaskas- 
kia  charge,  he  continued  to  travel  in  Missouri  until 
1828,  when  he  located.  Nine  years  afterwards  he 
was  readmitted,  traveled  one  year,  and  again  located 
in  1838.  "  He  was  gifted,  pious,  devoted  to  his 
work,  and  eminently  useful.  Though  quite  popular 
in  the  pulpit,  he  did  not  become  vain  or  proud  of 
this,  but  by  a  humble  and  consistent  life,  and  a 
chaste  conversation,  seasoned  with  grace,  he  made 
one  of  the  most  consistent  and  effective  traveling 
preachers  his  presiding  elder  had  ever  seen." l 

Jonx  DEW  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  born  July 
17,  1789.  In  early  life  he  was  converted  and  united 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  In  1812  he 
was  received  in  the  Ohio  Conference  and  appointed 
to  Salt  River  Circuit  in  Kentucky.  Then  he  trav- 
eled in  succession  the  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Guy- 
andotte  circuits  in  the  same  conference.  In  1816 
he  fell  into  the  Tennessee  Conference  and  was  sent 
to  Holston  Circuit,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  he 
located.  In  1823  he  was  readmitted  in  the  Missouri 

J  Dr.  McAnally. 


JOHN  DEW.  195 

Conference  and  appointed  to  Illinois  Circuit,  to 
which  he  was  returned  the  next  year  from  the  Illi- 
nois Conference.  In  1825  he  was  transferred  to 
Missouri  Conference  and  appointed  presiding  elder 
of  Missouri  District.  The  next  year  he  was  sta- 
tioned in  St.  Louis,  and  in  1827  was  retransferred 
to  the  Illinois  Conference  and  appointed  superin- 
tendent and  conference  collector  for  the  Pottawat- 
tomie  Mission  at  Salem.  In  1828  he  was  appointed 
to  Galena,  in  the  extreme  north-west  corner  of  the 
State,  and  at  least  four  hundred  miles  from  his  resi- 
dence ;  "  and  such,"  says  Cartwright,  "  was  the  pov- 
erty of  the  country  at  that  time,  for  it  was  new  and 
just  in  its  forming  state,  that  he  provided  for  his 
family  where  they  were,  and  spent  most  of  this  year 
almost  entirely  from  home.  His  labors  were  blessed 
in  this  new  field  of  toil,  and  he  was  instrumental 
in  planting  Methodism  firmly  there."  During  this 
year  Mr.  Dew  formed  a  class  in  Galena,  which  dis- 
putes with  the  one  at  Walker's  Grove  (now  Plain- 
field),  the  honor  of  being  the  first  class  formed  in 
the  Rock  River  Conference,  though  Mr.  Beggs 
thinks  the  latter  entitled  to  precedence.  In  1829 
Mr.  Dew  was  sent  to  Lebanon,  in  1830  to  Shoal 
Creek,  with  Edward  R.  Ames  as  his  junior,  and  the 
next  year  to  Lebanon  again.  Then  for  two  years 
he  labored  on  Kaskaskia  Circuit,  and  in  the  Fall 
of  1834  located.  Two  years  afterwards  he  was  re- 
admitted and  appointed  president  of  McKeudree 
College.  In  1837  he  was  assigned  to  the  Carlisle 
District  as  presiding  elder,  and  for  the  two  follow- 
ing years  to  the  Lebanon  District.  He  died  after 


196  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

an  illness  of  about  two  weeks  on  the  5th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1840,  a  few  days  before  the  session  of  the 
annual  conference. 

"  As  a  minister/'  says  his  memoir,  "  he  was  able 
and  useful ;  as  a  circuit  preacher,  stationed  minister, 
and  presiding  elder,  his  services  will  be  long  remem- 
bered by  those  who  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  his  min- 
istry. As  a  man,  he  was  honest ;  as  a  citizen,  he 
was  public-spirited;  in  the  domestic  circle  he  was 
kind  and  affectionate;  as  a  Christian,  his  walk  and 
conversation  recommended  the  religion  of  the  meek 
and  lowly  Redeemer."  Dr.  Cartwright  says  of  him  : 
"  He  had  a  fine  order  of  talent  as  a  preacher,  was 
a  strong  theological  debater,  had  a  clear  and  sound 
mind,  and  was  well  qualified  to  defend  the  doctrines 
of  the  Bible  against  infidelity,  and  the  doctrines  of 
Methodism  against  all  sectarian  assailants.  He  was 
popular  and  useful  as  a  preacher,  labored  hard,  suf- 
fered much  in  spreading  the  Gospel,  lived  beloved, 
and  died  lamented  by  thousands."  Mr.  Dew  was 
about  five  feet  and  a  half  in  height,  heavy  set,  dark- 
skinned,  with  black  hair  and  black  and  piercing 
eyes,  and  of  fine  personal  appearance.  He  was  a 
man  of  strong  and  cultivated  intellect,  a  hard  stu- 
dent, and  an  able  and  instructive  preacher.  His 
voice  was  very  musical,  and  in  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures and  lining  the  hymns,  as  was  then  the  cus- 
tom, he  often  produced  a  powerful  effect  upon  his 
hearers.2  He  was  a  member  of  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1828. 

ORCEXETH   FISHER  had  just   been   received  in 

2  Rev.  N.  P.  Heath. 


ORCENETH  FISHER.  197 

the  Missouri  Conference.  The  next  year  he  was 
appointed  from  the  Illinois  Conference  to  Boon- 
ville,  Indiana,  and  the  following  year  to  Mt.  Ver- 
non,  Illinois.  At  the  close  of  the  year,  his  health 
having  failed,  he  was  granted  a  superannuated  rela- 
tion, in  which  he  continued  three  years.  Then,  in 
1829,  he  was  sent  to  Brownsville  Circuit  as  a  super- 
numerary; but,  his  health  being  still  inadequate  to 
the  work  of  the  itinerancy,  he  was  again  placed  on 
the  superannuated  list,  in  which  he  remained  until 
1834,  when  he  located.  He  settled  at  Nashville,  in 
Washington  County,  and  engaged  in  the  practice 
of  medicine.  In  1838  he  was  readmitted  in  the 
conference,  and  sent  to  Waterloo  Circuit,  to  which 
he  was  returned  the  next  year.  In  1840  he  was 
stationed  in  Springfield,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
year  was  transferred  to  the  Texas  Conference,  and 
appointed  to  Washington,  where  he  labored  for  two 
years.  In  1843  his  appointment  was  Brazoria.  The 
next  year  he  fell  into  the  West  Texas  Conference, 
and  was  granted  a  superannuated  relation;  and  in 
the  division  of  the  Church  in  1845  he  went  into  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South.  The  writer 
heard  him  preach  at  a  camp-meeting  on  the  Athens 
Circuit,  in  the  Summer  of  1841.  By  request  he 
discussed  the  subject  of  baptism,  and  it  was  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  most  able,  interesting,  and  for- 
cible presentations  of  the  subject  ever  heard  in  that 
region.  One  who  was  his  pastor  during  his  location 
(Rev.  J.  H.  Dickens)  says  of  him  :  "  He  was  one 
of  the  most  profound,  critical,  and  brilliant  preach- 
ers of  that  day.  He  was  controversial,  yet  practical 


198  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

and  deeply  experimental.  His  pulpit  efforts  were 
always  powerful,  and  sometimes  almost  irresistible. 
I  scarcely  ever  saw  his  equal  in  power  over  the 
masses.  His  prayers  seemed  to  enter  heaven."  Mr. 
Dickens  relates  the  following  anecdote  of  him. 
There  was  in  the  town  of  Nashville  a  wealthy  mer- 
chant, who  was  also  a  State  senator,  a  very  popular 
and  influential  man,  though  wicked  and  skeptical, 
who  had  become  so  incensed  at  Dr.  Fisher  that  he 
had  sworn  to  whip  him  the  first  time  they  met. 
One  day,  as  the  doctor  was  passing  his  store,  cer- 
tain lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort,  who  had  heard 
the  threat,  told  the  merchant  that  Fisher  was  pass- 
ing. Hastily  pulling  off  -his  coat,  the  merchant, 
who  was  a  very  stout  man,  confronted  the  doctor, 
who  was  small  and  quite  feeble,  and  telling  him 
that  he  intended  to  thrash  him,  bid  him  throw  off 
his  coat  and. defend  himself,  for  he  intended  he 
should  have  a  fair  chance.  Dr.  Fisher  at  once  fell 
on  his  knees  in  the  dust  of  the  street,  and  prayed, 
as  scarcely  any  other  man  could,  that  God  would 
bless  and  save  the  merchant.  This  was  too  much 
for  him.  He  turned  and  retreated  to  his  store, 
saying  that  he  could  fight  a  man  in  any  other  posi- 
tion than  on  his  knees.  His  wicked  comrades 
laughed  at  him  and  taunted  him;  but  they  could 
not  get  him  to  fight  a  man  in  prayer. 

This  was  the  only  year  JESSE  GREEN  labored  in 
Illinois.  He  had  united  with  the  Tennessee  Con- 
ference in  1817,  and  traveled  in  connection  with  it 
until  1823,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  Missouri 
Conference,  and  appointed,  as  stated  above,  to  Shoal 


JESSE  GREEN.  199 

Creek.  The  next  year  he  was  assigned  to  the  Cape 
Girardeau  District,  and  continued  traveling  in  the 
Missouri  Conference,  mostly  as  presiding  elder,  until 
1845,  when  he  went,  with  the  majority  of  his  con- 
ference, into  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South. 
He  died  in  the  Spring  of  1847.  From  the  General 
Minutes  of  his  Church  we  learn  that  "  he  entered 
the  ministry  in  early  life,  with  qualifications  tor  ex- 
traordinary usefulness ;  and  during  the  whole  period 
of  thirty  years,  to  his  death,  his  course  in  the  itin- 
erancy was  alike  laborious,  self-sacrificing,  holy,  and 
successful."  A  writer,  quoted  by  Dr.  McFerrin, 
says :  "  He  was  small  of  stature,  erect  and  manly  in 
form  and  bearing,  and  looked  like  one  ordained  to 
lead  and  govern  among  the  hosts  of  spiritual  Israel. 
He  was  a  good  preacher.  His  sermons  often  con- 
tained the  rare  combination  of  the  metaphysical  and 
the  emotional.  He  commanded  the  attention  and 
challenged  the  intelligence  of  his  congregations.  He 
spoke  as  one  having  authority  from  God,  and  his 
appeals  to  sinners  to  repent  and  be  converted  were 
sometimes  terrific.  He  was  a  man  of  zeal  and  faith 
and  power,  and  finally  died  in  full  expectation  of  a 
crown  of  righteousness." 

He  was,  says  Dr.  McAnally,  "  superior  as  a 
preacher  of  strong  and  sound  doctrine.  He  devoted 
himself  to  doctrinal  studies,  and  became  very  able 
and  successful  in  assaulting  errors  and  defending  the 
faith  of  Methodism.  Calvinism  and  Campbellism, 
however,  were  his  specialties,  and  he  dealt  them 
many  a  hearty  and  damaging  blow.  In  the  discus- 
sion "of  questions  involving  the  freedom  of  the  will 


200  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

he  attained  distinguished  success,  and  was  regarded 
as  the  strong  doctrinal  preacher  of  the  conference. 
He  was,  moreover,  of  pleasant  and  agreeable  man- 
ners and  very  popular  on  his  work." 

JOHN  MILLER  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  born 
in  1802.  When  he  was  about  eighteen  he  was  con- 
verted in  the  State  of  Indiana,  and  in  1823  united 
with  the  Missouri  Conference,  and  was  appointed  to 
Sangamon  Circuit.  The  next  year,  from  the  Illi- 
nois Conference,  he  was  sent  to  Indianapolis,  in 
1825  to  Paoli,  and  the  next  year  to  Illinois  Circuit. 
In  1827  his  appointment  was  Vincennes,  and  in 
1828,  Washington.  For  the  two  following  years  he 
was  on  the  Mt.  Carmel  Circuit.  In  1831  he  was 
assigned  to  Corydon,  and  in  1832  fell  into  the  In- 
diana Conference,  in  which  he  continued  to  labor 
for  twenty  years,  eleven  of  them  on  districts,  when 
he  fell  into  the  South-east  Indiana  Conference,  of 
which  he  remained  a  member  until  his  death.  For 
fifteen  years  he  continued  filling  circuits  and  sta- 
tions, but  in  1869  he  was  placed  on  the  superannu- 
ated list,  on  which  he  continued  until  his  death,  in 
1874.  For  some  years  before  he  ceased  traveling, 
he  lived  in  Madison,  Indiana,  which  continued  to 
be  his  home  until  he  died.  Mr.  Miller  was  a  very 
genial,  companionable  man,  fond  of  jokes  and  anec- 
dotes. He  was  remarkably  self-possessed ;  one  who 
knew  him  well  for  many  years  declares  that  he  never 
saw  him  lose  his  self-control.  He  was  a  fine  business 
man,  and,  without  any  apparent  effort  to  make  money, 
died  possessed  of  a  large  property,  the  result  of  his 
prudent  investments  in  real  estate.  He  was  a  good 


JOHN  MILLER.  201 

preacher,  somewhat  slow  of  speech,  but  usually 
drawing  good  congregations.  His  sermons  were 
not  flowery  nor  rhetorical,  but  rather  argumentative 
and  convincing.  His  voice  was  distinct  and  mu- 
sical, and  he  was  a  remarkably  fine  singer.3 
*3Dr.A.  J.  Miller. 


PART  IV. 


THE  ILLINOIS  CONFERENCE 


The  Separation  from   Indiana. 


to  1831. 


Part   IV. 

THE  ILLINOIS  CONFERENCE 

TO    THE    SEPARATION    FROM    INDIANA. 
1824  to  1831. 


I. 

1824. 

INDIANA  DISTRICT— James  Armstrong,  P.  E. 
Fmm7/ion— Hackaliah  Vredenburg,  Robert  Delap. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT — Samuel  H.  Thompson,  P.  E. 

Mt.  Carmcl — Thomas  Davis,  Samuel  Bassett,  sup. 

Wabash — Cornelius  Ruddle. 

Cash  Hirer — Josiuh  Patterson. 

Mt.  Vernon — William  Moore. 

Kaskaskia — Thomas  Raudle. 

Illinois — John  Dew,  James  E.  Johnson. 

Mississippi — William  Medford. 

Sangamon — Peter  Cartwright. 

Shoal  Creek— Ebenezer  T.  Webster. 

Jesse  Walker,  missionary  to  the  settlements  be- 
tween the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi  Rivers, 
and  to  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Clark. 

AT  the  session  of  the  General  Conference  of  1824 
the  Missouri  Conference  was  divided  into  two, 
the  Missouri  and  the  Illinois;  the  former  including 
the  State  of  Missouri,  and  the  latter  the  States  of 
Illinois  and  Indiana,  that  part  of  Indiana  previously 


206  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

connected  with  the  Ohio  Conference  being  now  in- 
cluded in  the  Illinois.  The  two  conferences  held 
their  sessions  together  at  the  house  of  William  Pad- 
field,  St.  Clair  County,  Illinois.  The  joint  session 
began  on  Saturday,  October  23,  1824,  and  closed  on 
the  following  Thursday. 

The  journal  of  the  session  is  signed  by  Bishop 
Roberts,  though  Bishops  Mclvendree  and '  Soule 
were  also  present.  John  Scripps  was  elected  secre- 
tary, and  James  Bankson,  assistant.  At  the  open- 
ing session  only  eleven  members  were  present,  but 
on  the  Monday  following  thirty-three  members  of 
both  conferences  answered  to  their  names.  A  camp- 
meeting  was  held  in  connection  with  the  confer- 
ence, at  which,  on  Sunday,  Bishop  Soule  preached 
a  funeral  sermon  on  the  life,  character,  and  labors 
of  Rev.  William  Beauchamp,  who  had  died  about 
two  weeks  before.  The  sermon  was  afterwards 
requested  for  publication.  Bishop  Roberts  was  re- 
quested to  preach  a  sermon  on  the  death  of  Samuel 
Glaze,  but  as  he  could  obtain  no  information  in 
regard  to  him,  the  sermon  was  not  preached. 

The  usual  conference  business  was  transacted, 
though  the  mode  of  conducting  conference  business 
then  was  very  different  from  the  present  mode;  and 
the  amount  of  business  done  was  trifling  compared 
with  that  of  an  annual  conference  now.  Then,  the 
first  business  after  the  opening  and  organization  of 
the  conference  was  the  election  of  stewards,  three 
or  five,  and  this  was  deemed  so  responsible  an  office 
that  the  elections  were  usually  by  ballot.  Then, 
there  were  uo  examinations  of  under-graduates 


DOINGS  OF  CONFERENCE.  207 

before  the  beginning  of  the  session,  and  no  ap- 
pointment of  committees  of  examination  the  year 
before.  The  candidates  for  admission  into  full  con- 
nection were  merely  examined  by  a  committee  ap- 
pointed at  the  beginning  of  the  session,  and 
the  examination  was  rather  on  the  soundness  of 
their  faith  than  on  an  extended  course  of  study.  , 
Then,  the  preachers  were  required  to  report  in  open 
conference  the  amount  of  their  claims  and  receipts ; 
and  at  this  session  a  resolution  was  adopted  that 
"  every  brother  who  should  fail  to  render  his  ac- 
count on  the  second  day  after  the  commencement 
of  the  conference  should  not  be  a  partaker  of  the 
dividend,"  that  is,  a  sharer  in  the  conference  divi- 
dend from  the  profits  of  the  Book  Concern  and  the 
income  of  the  Chartered  Fund.  At  this  session  the 
Illinois  Conference  received  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  from  the  former,  and  eighty  dollars  from  the 
latter;  and  the  Missouri  Conference  received  a  like 
amount.  Then,  the  examination  of  character  was 
usually  conducted  with  closed  doors;  and,  instead 
of  the  "  nothing  against  him,"  of  the  present  day, 
an  account  of  the  labors  of  each  preacher  and  a 
brief  sketch  of  his  character  were  given  by  the  pre- 
siding elder.  The  eifect  of  this  upon  the  preach- 
ers was  a  better  knowledge  and  a  higher  apprecia- 
tion of  each  other,  and  a  deeper  interest  in  each 
other's  welfare.  Then,  the  bishops  seemed  to  con- 
sider themselves,  far  more  than  now,  the  PASTORS 
of  the  conference,  the  spiritual  counselors  and  in- 
structors of  the  preachers;  and  many  were  the 
godly  admonitions  given  by  them  during  a  confer- 


208  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

ence  session.  Their  deep  piety,  their  commanding 
talents,  their  wide  experience,  and,  above  all,  their 
hearty  sympathy  with  the  preachers  in  their  labors, 
privations,  and  sufferings,  for  they  had  endured  and 
were  still  enduring  the  same  themselves,  secured  for 
them  an  affectionate  reverence  that  is  now  seldom 
accorded  by  a  conference  to  its  presiding  officer. 
In  theory  a  bishop  was  then,  as  now,  "primus  inter 
pares;"  but  then,  not  in  the  estimation  of  the 
bishop,  but  of  the  preachers,  primus  was  the  em- 
phatic word;  whereas,  in  these  days,  the  empha- 
sis is  generally  on  pares.  Then,  a  committee  was 
elected  in  each  conference  to  unite  with  the  bishops 
in  estimating  the  probable  expense  of  sustaining 
them.  Then,  at  least  in  the  West,  a  camp-meeting 
was  usually  held  in  connection  with  the  conference 
session,  and  it  was  not  uncommon  for  scores  of  souls 
to  be  converted  during  the  conference  week.  The 
time  of  the  preachers  not  spent  in  the  transaction 
of  necessary  business  was  spent  on  the  camp-ground 
in  laboring  for  the  salvation  of  souls ;  and,  as  an 
effect  of  this,  they  went  to  their  new  charges  full 
of  zeal  for  God  and  love  for  souls.  Now,  the  nu- 
merous anniversaries  and  specialties  of  an  annual 
conference,  and  the  work  imposed  on  the  various 
committees,  divert  attention  from  the  work  of  soul- 
saving,  so  that  the  conversion  of  a  soul  during  a 
conference  session  now  is  the  exception  rather  than 
the  rule;  and  it  requires  no  small  degree  of  watch- 
fulness and  effort  on  the  part  of  the  preachers  to 
avoid  a  decrease  of  spirituality  while  together  at 
conference. 


MEMBERS  OF  CONFERENCE.  209 

The  members  of  the  Illinois  Conference  at  this, 
its  first  session,  were  the  following:  James  Arm- 
strong, Samuel  Bassett,  Peter  Cartwright,  John 
Cord,  William  Cravens,  Thomas  Davis,  Robert  De- 
lap,  John  Dew,  Nathaniel  S.  Griffith,  James  Havens, 
George  K.  Hester,  Thomas  S.  Hitt,  Samuel  Hull, 
James  Jones,  William  Medford,  Josiah  Patterson, 
Thomas  Handle,  Edwin  Ray,  Thomas  Rice,  Corne- 
lius Ruddle,  Calvin  W.  Enter,  William  H.  Smith, 
Peter  Stephens,  John  Strange,  James  L.  Thompson, 
Samuel  H.  Thompson,  Hackaliah  Vredenbnrg,  Jesse 
Walker,  Ebenezer  T.  Webster,  Allen  Wiley,  Dennis 
Willey,  Aaron  Wood — in  all  thirty-two.  Of  these 
Peter  Cartwright  and  Edwin  Ray  were  transferred 
this  year  from  the  Kentucky  Conference. 

The  class  of  the  second  year  consisted  of  Orce- 
neth  Fisher,  James  E.  Johnson,  John  Miller,  Will- 
iam Moore,  Edward  Smith,  Thomas  Hewson,  the 
last-named  a  probationer  transferred  this  year  from 
the  Ohio  Conference. 

The  following  persons  were  received  on  trial : 
Daniel  Anderson,  John  Fish,  James  Garner,  Rich- 
ard Hargrave,  Samuel  Low,  George  Randle,  Jacob 
Varner. 

When  the  case  of  Richard  Hargrave  was  before 
the  conference  for  admission  on  trial,  it  was  stated 
that  he  had  traveled  in  the  Indiana  District  the 
year  before  under  the  presiding  elder,  William  Beau- 
champ,  but  in  consequence  of  his  death  there  was 
no  recommendation  for  Brother  Hargrave  at  the 
conference.  William  Medford  and  James  Arm- 
strong assured  the  conference  that  a  recommenda- 
18 


210  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

tion  for  him  to  travel  had  been  obtained,  and 
pledged  themselves  to  produce  it  at  the  next  session 
of  the  conference  if  he  should  be  admitted ;  and  on 
their  assurance  and  pledge  he  was  admitted. 

Two  of  the  preachers  were  placed  on  the  super- 
annuated list,  William  Cravens  and  Calvin  W.  Ruter; 
and  four  were  granted  a  supernumerary  relation, 
Samuel  Bassett,  John  Cord,  Robert  Delap,  and 
Dennis  Willey. 

Two  districts  were  formed  in  Indiana,  the  Mad- 
ison, with  John  Strange  as  presiding  elder,  and  the 
Indiana,  with  James  Armstrong.  All  the  appoint- 
ments in  Illinois  were  in  one  district,  with  Samuel 
H.  Thompson  as  presiding  elder,  with  the  exception 
of  Vermillion  Circuit,  which  was  connected  with 
the  Indiana  District. 

The  most  important  changes  in  the  work  this 
year  were  the  separation  of  the  Wabash  and  Mt. 
Vernon  Circuits,  and  the  appointment  of  Jesse 
Walker  as  missionary  to  form  a  circuit  between  the 
Illinois  and  Mississippi  Rivers.  This  region  began 
to  be  settled  soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  with 
Great  Britain.  In  1819  the  Ross  family,  from  New 
York,  settled  near  Atlas  in  what  was  afterwards 
Pike  County.  In  1820  Abner  Gads,  with  others, 
settled  in  Peoria,  and  soon  afterwards  the  govern- 
ment established  an  Indian  agency  there.  In  the 
Fall  of  1821  John  Wood,  afterwards  governor  of 
the  State,  with  two  others,  visited  the  site  of  Quincy 
and  selected  that  as  his  residence,  and  the  next  year 
took  up  his  abode  there.  In  February,  1823,  Cal- 
vin Hobart,  father  of  Chauncey  and  Norris  Hobart, 


CIRCUITS.  211 

now  of  the  Minnesota  Conference,  with  his  family 
and  William  H.  Taylor,  settled  in  what  is  now  Schuy- 
ler  County;  and  soon  after  Levin  Green,  a  local 
preacher  from  Missouri,  settled  in  the  same  region, 
and  preached  the  first  sermon  in  the  house  of  Mr. 
Hobart  in  the  Fall  of  1823.  The  country  had  set- 
tled so  rapidly  that  in  1821  Pike  County  was  organ- 
ized with  Atlas  as  the  county-seat;  and  in  1825  the 
whole  military  tract,  as  it  was  termed,  was  divided 
by  the  Legislature  into  counties,  nearly  as  they 
exist  now. 

As  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  the  ten  circuits, 
with  the  mission  just  mentioned,  into  which  Illinois, 
or  rather  the  settled  portion  of  it,  was  then  divided, 
covered  territory  about  as  follows : 

VERMILLION  CIRCUIT  included  the  settlements 
west  of  the  Wabash  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  from 
the  mouth  of  Big  Creek  on  the  south,  to  Warren 
County,  Indiana,  on  the  north,  and  extending  west 
to  the  Grand  Prairie.  This  charge  covered  what 
are  now  Edgar,  Vermillion,  and  part  of  Clark 
Counties  in  Illinois,  and  Vermillion  and  part  of 
Vigo  Counties,  Indiana. 

MT.  CARMEL  CIRCUIT  embraced  the  territory 
now  included  in  Wabash,  Edwards,  Lawrence,  Rich- 
land,  Crawford,  and  parts  of  Clark  and  Clay  Coun- 
ties, reaching  from  below  Mt.  Carmel  to  Darwin, 
and  including  Maysville  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Little  Wabash. 

WABASH  CIRCUIT  took  in  the  settlements  on  the 
Big  and  Little  Wabash  Rivers  below  the  Mt.  Car- 
mel Circuit,  and  those  on  the  Ohio  to  the  Cash 


212  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

River  Circuit,  including  probably  the  counties  of 
White,  Gallatin,  Hardin,  Saline,  and  perhaps  part 
of  Pope. 

CASH  RIVER  CIRCUIT  included  all  the  settle- 
ments on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  and  their  trib- 
utaries, between  the  Wabash  and  Kaskaskia  Cir- 
cuits, and  covering  probably  what  are  now  the  coun- 
ties of  Alexander,  Pulaski,  Massac,  Johnson,  Union, 
and  Pope. 

MT.  VERNON  CIRCUIT  embraced  all  the  terri- 
tory between  the  Mt.  Carmel  Circuit  on  the  east, 
Wabash  and  Cash  River  on  the  south,  and  Kaskas- 
kia and  Shoal  Creek  on  the  west. 

KASKASKIA  CIRCUIT  included  probably  the 
counties  of  Randolph  and  Jackson,  and  parts  of 
Perry  and  Monroe. 

ILLINOIS  CIRCUIT  covered  St.  Clair  County,  and 
parts  of  Monroe  and  Madison. 

MISSISSIPPI  CIRCUIT  included  Greene,  Jersey, 
Scott,  Macoupin,  and  parts  of  Morgan  and  Madison 
Counties. 

SANGAMON  CIRCUIT  embraced  Sangamon  and  a 
part  of  Morgan  Counties,  and  all  the  territory  as 
far  north  as  the  settlements  extended. 

SHOAL  CREEK  CIRCUIT  took  in  all  the  settle- 
ments on  both  sides  of  Shoal  Creek,  and  on  both 
sides  of  the  Okaw  above  the  mouth  of  Crooked 
Creek,  covering  what  are  now  the  counties  of  Clin- 
ton, Bond,  Fayette,  Montgomery,  and  Shelby. 

Several  camp-meetings  were  held  this  year,  at 
which  many  souls  were  converted.  Mr.  Beggs  re- 
lates that  on  his  way  from  the  Missouri  to  the  UK- 


PEORIA.  213 

nois  Conference,  to  which  he  had  been  transferred, 
"  I  fell  in  with  Samuel  H.  Thompson  and  Jesse 
Walker,  at  a  camp-meeting  near  Padfield's,  and  a 
most  glorious  time  we  had  there.  On  our  way,  near 
Mt.  Carmel,  Illinois,  we  attended  another  camp- 
meeting,  and  the  gracious  out-pouring  of  the  Spirit 
converted  many  souls,  and  quickened  the  believers." 

Another  camp-meeting  was  held  at  Shiloh  in 
September  of  this  year,  at  which  many  souls  were 
converted,  amongst  whom  was  one,  Elihu  Springer, 
who  afterwards  became  a  useful  traveling  preacher. 

During  this  year  Jesse  Walker,  in  his  missionary 
labors,  formed  the  first  class  in  Peoria,  numbering 
sixteen  members.  And  it  was  probably  during  this 
year  that  the  following  incident,  recorded  by  Bishop 
Morris,  occurred.  He  "  visited  one  neighborhood 
near  the  Illinois  River,  containing  some  sixty  or 
seventy  souls.  They  all  came  to  hear  him,  and 
having  preached  three  successive  days,  he  read  the 
General  Rules  and  proposed  that  as  many  of  them 
as  desired  to  unite  to  serve  God  according  to  the 
Bible  as  expressed  in  those  rules  should  come  for- 
ward and  make  it  known.  The  most  prominent 
man  among  them  rose  to  his  feet,  and  said,  '  Sir,  I 
trust  we  will  all  unite  with  you  to  serve  God 
here/  then  walked  forward,  and  all  the  rest  fol- 
lowed." 

The  year  was  one  of  prosperity.  There  was  an 
increase  in  the  work  in  Illinois  of  530  white  mem- 
bers, and  a  decrease  of  thirty  colored — an  aggregate 
increase  of  520.  The  entire  membership  was  3,705 
white  and  27  colored. 


214  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

The  following  brethren  were  this  year  connected 
with  the  work  in  Illinois  for  the  first  time: 

JAMES  ARMSTRONG  was  a  native  of  Ireland, 
born  in  1787,  and  was  brought  by  his  parents  to 
America  when  but  a  child.  When  about  nineteen 
he  was  converted  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and 
united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Some 
years  afterwards  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  in 
1821  removed  to  the  State  of  Indiana,  and  was  re- 
ceived in  the  Missouri  Conference,  and  appointed 
to  Charleston  Circuit,  which  he  traveled  for  two 
years.  The  following  year  he  was  on  Bloomington 
Circuit;  and  in  1824,  though  only  entering  upon 
his  fourth  year  in  the  itinerancy,  he  was  placed  on 
the  Indiana  District  as  presiding  elder.  He  trav- 
eled in  all  thirteen  years,  eight  of  which  were  spent 
in  the  presiding  eldership.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  General  Conferences  of  1828  and  1832.  Aaron 
Wood  says  of  him:  "He  was  of  medium  height 
and  weight ;  his  chin,  lips,  and  nose  sharp,  eyes 
small,  eyebrows  heavy,  forehead  square  and  high, 
and  hair  thick  and  dark.  He  was  always  neatly 
dressed  in  plain  black.  He  had  a  good  voice,  with 
a  free  use  of  plain  English  words  of  Saxon  origin  ; 
nothing  of  the  Irish  brogue,  but  much  of  the  fire, 
which,  as  he  felt  himself,  he  failed  not  to  impart  to 
others  who  gave  him  audience,  till  the  bond  be- 
came so  strong  between  the  speaker  and  hearer  that 
both  were  carried  along  with  the  force  and  beauty 
of  the  subject  before  them.  Having  been  presiding 
elder  over  all  the  State  of  Indiana,  from  the  Ohio 
to  the  lakes,  he  was  a  herald  of  the  Gospel  whom 


WILLIA M  MOORE.  £15 

God  had  owned  and  blessed,  and  his  untiring  in- 
dustry and  influence,  devoted  as  they  were  entirely 
to  the  organizing  of  the  Church  in  the  then  new 
settlements,  place  him  on  the  page  of  our  history  as 
the  leading  evangelist."  In  his  memoir  it  is  said  : 
"  He  was  an  able  minister  of  the  New  Testament ; 
he  labored  with  indefatigable  diligence  to  promote 
the  prosperity  of  Ziou.  God  gave  him  many  souls 
to  his  ministry."  He  died  September  12,  1834,  at 
his  own  residence,  at  Door  Village,  Laporte  County, 
Indiana,  where  he  had,  two  years  before,  formed 
the  first  society  in  the  county. 

Of  SAMUEL  BASSETT,  who  was  this  year  ap- 
pointed as  a  supernumerary  to  Mt.  Carmel  Circuit, 
we  have  only  the  record  of  his  appointment.  He 
was  received  in  the  Missouri  Conference  in  1820, 
traveled  three  years  in  Missouri,  and  in  1823  was 
placed  on  the  superannuated  list.  In  1824,  at  the 
first  session  of  the  Illinois  Conference,  his  relation 
was  changed  to  supernumerary,  and  at  the  next 
session  to  effective.  In  1825  he  was  assigned  to 
Madison,  Indiana,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  was 
granted  a  location,  at  his  own  request. 

"  WILLIAM  MOORE,"  says  his  memoir  in  the 
General  Minutes,  "  was  esteemed  a  very  good  man, 
about  whose  life  and  labors  we  have  but  little  in- 
formation. It  appears,  however,  that  he  embraced 
religion  in  the  prime  of  life,  entered  the  traveling 
connection  in  1823,  and,  after  traveling  a  number 
of  circuits  with  some  degree  of  usefulness  to  the 
Church,  he  died  in  peace  at  his  own  house  in 
Charleston,  Indiana.  "  Of  the  charges  he  traveled, 


216  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

one  was  in  Missouri ;  two,  the  Mt.  Vernon  and 
Kaskaskia,  in  Illinois  ;  and  the  remaining  five  in 
Indiana.  Upon  one  of  his  circuits  he  received 
only  twelve  dollars  for  his  year's  services,  and  on 
another  twenty-four  dollars.  He  was  a  devoted 
Christian,  and  most  of  his  conversation  was  on 
religion. 

The  active  itinerant  life  of  THOMAS  HANDLE 
was  spent  in  the  Missouri  and  Illinois  Conferences 
in  alternation.  Uniting  with  the  former  in  1822, 
he  traveled  two  years  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  In 
1824  he  was  in  the  Illinois  Conference,  on  the  Kas- 
kaskia Circuit.  The  next  year  he  was  transferred 
to  the  Missouri  Conference,  and  appointed  to  St. 
Louis  and  Gasconade.  Then,  in  1826,  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  Illinois  Conference,  and  traveled  in  suc- 
cession the  Mississippi  and  Shoal  Creek  Circuits, 
and  in  1828  was  granted  a  location.  Five  years 
afterward,  in  1833,  he  was  readmitted  in  the  Mis- 
souri Conference,  traveled  in  it  two  years,  and  in 
1835  was  placed  on  the  superannuated  list,  and  the 
next  year  located.  He  remained  a  local  preacher 
for  thirty-one  years.  In  1867  he  was  readmitted  in 
the  Southern  Illinois  Conference,  and  granted  a  su- 
perannuated relation,  in  which  he  continued  until 
his  death,  July  18,  1874.  During  his  long  location 
he  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Edwardsville.  He 
was  a  man  of  stern  appearance,  but  with  no  dispo- 
sition to  be  harsh  or  tyrannical,  and  despite  his  ap- 
pearance he  was  really  full  of  humor  and  good 
sense.  He  had  a  strong  constitution,  and  in  old  age 
was  a  young  old  man.  He  was  pleasant  without 


EBENEZER  T.    WEBSTER.  217 

trifling,  a  good,  strong,  old-fashioned  preacher,  and 
a  warm  friend  of  the  itinerants. 

This  was  JAMES  E.  JOHNSON'S  second  year  in 
the  itinerancy.  He  had  traveled  the  Spring  "River 
and  White  River  Circuit,  in  Missouri,  the  year  be- 
fore ;  and  at  the  close  of  his  service  this  year  on 
the  Illinois  Circuit,  "after  some  deliberation  con- 
cerning his  peculiarities,  he  was,  according  to  his 
own  request,  discontinued,"  by  the  conference.1 

WILLIAM  MEDFORD  traveled  in  connection  with 
the  Missouri  Conference  in  Missouri  and  Indiana 
from  1818  to  1824.  At  the  first  session  of  the  Illi- 
nois Conference  he  was  appointed,  as  stated  above, 
to  the  Mississippi  Circuit,  to  which  he  was  returned 
the  next  year;  in  1826  he  was  sent  to  the  newly 
formed  Atlas  Circuit,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year 
he  located. 

EBENEZER  T.  WEBSTER  had  traveled  in  the 
Missouri  Conference,  two  years  in  Indiana  and  one 
in  Missouri,  before  receiving  his  appointment  this 
year  to  the  Shoal  Creek  Circuit.  In  1825  he  was 
appointed  to  the  Illinois  Circuit,  and  in  1826,  ac- 
cording to  the  General  Minutes,  was  located.  But 
the  journal  of  the  conference  makes  no  mention  of 
his  location.  It  merely  states  that  when  his  name 
was  called,  at  the  request  of  the  presiding  elder,  his 
case  was  laid  over,  and  no  further  mention  is  made 
of  him.  This  is  probably  an  unintentional  omission 
by  the  secretary.  Whether  the  drfficulties  in  his 
case,  resulting  in  his  location,  grew  out  of  his  con- 
nection with  Masonry,  we  are  not  informed.  But 

Conference  Journal. 

19 


218  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

the  action  of  the  conference  in  his  case,  at  its  ses- 
sion in  1825,  shows  that  there  was  at  that  time  a 
strong  opposition  to  the  order  in  the  conference,  and 
that  this  may  have  been  the  cause  of  his  location. 
PETER  CART  WRIGHT,  who  was  this  year  trans- 
ferred to  the  newly  formed  conference,  and  who 
remained  connected  with  it  during  the  remainder 
of  his  life,  was  born  of  poor  parents  in  Amherst 
County,  Virginia,  September  1,  1785.  While  he 
was  an  infant  his  parents  moved  to  Kentucky,  set- 
tling first  in  Lincoln  County  and  afterwards  in 
Logan  County.  His  mother  was  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and,  as  soon  as  the 
family  reached  their  new  home,  their  cabin  was 
opened  for  preaching.  Young  Cartwright  was  nat- 
urally a  wild,  wicked  boy,  and,  as  he  grew  up,  de- 
lighted in  horse-racing,  card-playing,  and  dancing. 
His  father,  who,  says  Mrs.  Johnson,  "  was  not  so 
much  a  bad  as  a  good-for-nothing  kind  of  man," 
restrained  him  but  little,  though  his  mother  often 
talked  to  him,  wept  over  him,  and  prayed  for  him, 
and  often,  be  tells  us,  drew  tears  from  his  eyes; 
and,  though  he  often  wept  under  preaching,  and 
resolved  to  do  better  and  seek  religion,  yet  he  broke 
his  vows,  went  with  young  company,  rode  races, 
played  cards,  and  danced.  Early  in  1801  he  was 
powerfully  convinced  of  sin ;  and  after  groaning 
under  its  burden  for  about  three  months,  was  con- 
verted at  a  meeting  held  by  a  Mr.  McGready,  a 
Presbyterian  minister,  in  the  month  of  May.  The 
next  month  he  united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  In  the  Spring  of  the  following  year  he 


PETER  CARTWRIGHT.  219 

was  licensed  to  exhort  by  Jesse  Walker,  preacher  in 
charge  of  the  Reel  River  Circuit,  on  which  he  lived; 
and  this  license  to  exhort,  he  tells  us,  was  all  the 
authority  he  ever  received  from  the  Church  until 
he  received  his  ordination  parchment.  In  the  Fall 
of  that  year  he  moved  with  his  parents  to  Lewiston 
County,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland  River, 
a  new  country  not  yet  embraced  in  any  circuit. 
The  Church  letter  he  received  from  his  presiding 
elder,  John  Page,  was  not  only  a  certificate  of  mem- 
bership, but  an  authorization  to  hold  meetings, 
organize  classes,  and  form  a  circuit  in  this  new  ter- 
ritory, and  then  report  to  him  at  the  last  quarterly- 
meeting  of  the  year.  He  accordingly  gathered  into 
the  Church  about  seventy  persons,  organized  them 
into  classes,  appointed  leaders,  and  reported  them  to 
the  preacher  and  presiding  elder  at  the  appointed 
time,  and  to  the  charge  thus  formed  was  given  the 
name  Livingston  Circuit.  The  following  year  he 
was  employed  by  the  presiding  elder  on  the  Red 
River  Circuit  for  one  quarter,  and  then  removed  to 
the  Wayne  Circuit,  whose  preacher  had  been  com- 
pelled by  sickness  to  leave  the  work.  It  was  on 
this  circuit  that  his  singular  controversy  occurred 
with  the  Baptists,  who  had  attempted  to  proselyte 
his  converts,  and  of  which  he  gives  a  humorous 
account  in  his  autobiography,  which  resulted  in  the 
breaking  up  of  the  Baptist  society,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Methodist  Church  of  over  seventy 
members.  At  the  session  of  the  Western  Confer- 
ence of  1804  he  was  formally  received  into_the 
itinerant  ranks,  and  sent  as  junior  preacher  to  Salt 


220  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

River  and  Shelby  Circuit,  with  Benjamin  Lakin  as 
his  senior,  and  William  McKendree  as  his  presid- 
ing elder.  His  early  educational  advantages  had 
been  quite  limited.  He  had  acquired  while  at  his 
father's  house  some  knowledge  of  the  common  En- 
glish branches,  but  while  on  this  circuit  his  presid- 
ing elder  directed  him  to  a  proper  course  of  read- 
ing and  study,  selecting  books  for  him  both  literary 
and  theological,  and  at  his  quarterly  visitations  ex- 
amining into  his  progress  and  correcting  his  errors. 
He  acknowledged  himself  more  indebted  to  Bishop 
McKendree  for  his  attainments  in  literature  and 
divinity  than  to  any  other  man  on  earth.  The  next 
year  he  was  sent  to  the  Scioto  Circuit  in  Ohio,  with 
James  Quinn  as  his  senior  and  John  Sale  as  his 
presiding  elder.  The  impress  made  upon  him  by 
his  colleagues  and  presiding  elders,  Lakin  and  Mc- 
Kendree, Quinn  and  Sale,  during  these  first  two 
years  of  his  ministry  could  not  have  been  other  than 
good,  and  doubtless  contributed  much  toward  his 
success  in  after  years.  At  the  close  of  the  year  he 
was  ordained  deacon  by  Bishop  Asbury,  and  in 
1806  was  sent  to  Barren  Circuit,  in  Kentucky,  and 
Lewis  Anderson  was  employed  by  the  presiding 
elder,  James  Ward,  as  his  assistant.  In  the  Sum- 
mer of  this  year  he  was  married  to  Miss  Frances 
Gaines,  a  woman  worthy  to  rank  with  the  noble 
women  of  Methodism,  and  who  exerted  a  more 
favorable  influence  upon  her  husband  during  their 
long  pilgrimage  together,  than  was  exerted  by  any 
or  all  other  persons.  Her  character  is  well  drawn 
by  Solomon  in  his  description  of  the  virtuous 


MRS.  CARTWRIGHT.  221 

woman :  "  The  heart  of  her  husband  doth  safely 
trust  in  her,  so  that  he  shall  have  no  need  of  spoil. 
Strength  and  honor  are  her  clothing,  and  she  shall 
rejoice  in  time  to  come.  She  openeth  her  mouth 
with  wisdom,  and  in  her  tongue  is  the  law  of  kind- 
ness. She  looketh  well  to  the  ways  of  her  house- 
hold, and  eateth  not  the  bread  of  idleness.  Her 
children  arise  up  and  call  her  blessed,  her  husband 
also,  and  he  praiseth  her."  One  who  was  an  inmate 
of  her  dwelling  in  Kentucky  for  some  time,  Mrs. 
Johnson,  says  of  her :  "  Sister  Cartwright  was  one 
of  the  most  industrious  and  amiable  women  I  ever 
knew.  Whatever  she  did  seemed  to  be  done  better 
and  quicker  than  any  body  else  could  do  it."  Her 
death,  a  few  years  after  that  of  her  husband,  was 
most  triumphant.  At  a  meeting  for  the  promotion 
of  holiness,  held  near  her  residence,  she  had  borne 
testimony  to  the  power  of  Christ  to  save  to  the 
uttermost,  and  then  remarking,  "  I  know  not  why 
I  am  permitted  to  linger  here,  but  I  am  waiting 
for  the  chariot  to  come,"  sat  down,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  her  head  dropped,  and  the  chariot  came  to 
convey  her  spirit  to  paradise. 

The  next  year  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Cartwright 
was  appointed  to  Salt  River  Circuit ;  and,  during 
the  two  following  years,  he  traveled  the  circuit  he 
had  formed  as  an  exhorter,  the  Livingston.  There 
was  not  much  prosperity  on  the  charge  until  near 
the  close  of  his  first  year,  when  a  gracious  revival 
began  at  a  camp-meeting,  which  spread  over  the 
country  until  scores  were  brought  to  a  saving 
knowledge  of  the  truth.  In  1811  he  was  sent  to 


222  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Christian  Circuit,  with  James  Axley  as  his  presiding 
elder.  It  was  a  year  of  revival,  some  three  hun- 
dred uniting  with  the  Church.  At  one  of  the  camp- 
meetings,  near  the  close  of  the  year,  he  baptized 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  adults  and  forty- 
seven  children,  all  but  seven,  who  insisted  upon 
being  immersed,  in  the  Scriptural  mode,  so  beauti- 
fully representing  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
In  1812  he  fell  into  the  Tennessee  Conference,  and 
was  appointed  as  stated  before,  to  the  Wabash  Dis- 
trict in  Indiana  and  Illinois.  For  the  three  follow- 
ing years  he  traveled  the  Green  River  District.  At 
the  conference  of  1815  he  was  elected,  for  the  first 
time,  to  the  General  Conference,  to  be  held  in  Bal- 
timore the  following  May.  In  1816  he  was  again 
appointed  to  Christian  Circuit,  and  was  blessed  with 
some  glorious  revivals  during  the  year.  For  the 
two  following  years  he  traveled  the  Red  River 
Circuit.  These  were  years  of  great  losses  by  the 
faithful  administration  of  Discipline,  and  of  great 
gains  by  the  displays  of  the  power  of  God,  and  the 
accession  of  multitudes  to  the  Church. 

At  the  conference  of  1819  the  election  of  dele- 
gates to  the  General  Conference  turned  on  the 
question  of  slavery.  Mr.  Cartwright  was  a  very 
decided  opponent  to  the  institution,  and  though  far 
from  advocating  the  extreme  measures  of  the  Abo- 
litionists, was  yet  bitterly  opposed  by  the  advocates 
of  slavery,  then  unfortunately  becoming  quite  nu- 
merous in  the  Church.  He,  with  the  whole  anti- 
slavery  ticket,  was  elected  by  a  handsome  majority. 
He  was  appointed  that  year  to  the  Christian  Circuit, 


CONTROVERSIES.  223 

and  returned  the  following  year.  It  was  during  his 
pastorate  in  that  charge  that  he  published  his  cele- 
brated "  Letter  to  the  Devil."  For  the  three  fol- 
lowing years  he  was  on  the  Cumberland  District  as 
presiding  elder.  These  were  years  of  some  relig- 
ious prosperity,  but  at  the  same  time  of  almost  con- 
stant controversy  with  the  Calvinists  on  decrees  and 
unconditional  final  perseverance,  and  with  the  Bap- 
tists on  the  mode  and  subjects  of  baptism.  Every 
preacher  was  expected  to  be  always  prepared  to  de- 
fend his  own  doctrines  and  practices,  and  to  refute 
the  errors  and  heresies  of  others ;  yet  much  of  this 
controversy  necessarily,  from  their  position  and  ex- 
perience, fell  to  the  lot  of  the  presiding  elders; 
and  it  was  often  the  case  that  the  Sunday  morning 
sermon  at  a  quarterly-meeting  was  a  long-drawn- 
out  attack  upon  and  refutation  of  some  form  of 
error  prevalent  in  the  neighborhood.  It  was  not 
uncommon  then  for  a  quarterly-meeting  sermon  on 
some  disputed  doctrine  to  be  from  three  to  four  hours 
long;  and  if  the  preacher  was  a  fluent  speaker  the 
people  would  listen  to  it  with  apparent  interest  to 
the  end.  The  result  of  this  frequent  and  almost 
constant  controversial  preaching  was  the  training 
of  a  race  of  theological  stalwarts  in  the  ministry, 
ardently  attached  to  the  doctrines  and  practices  of 
their  own  Church,  intolerant  of  every  form  of  error, 
and  quick  to  discern  the  slightest  departure  from 
the  truth.  The  continuance  of  errorists  and  her- 
etics in  the  ministry  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  then  would  have  been  an  impossibility. 
In  1823  Mr.  Cartwright  was  again  elected  to  the 


"224  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

General  Conference ;  and  at  the  session  of  1824,  as 
stated  above,  lie  was  transferred  to  the  Illinois  Con- 
ference. His  intention  Avas  to  attend  the  session  of 
the  conference  at  Padfield's;  but  he  was  prevented 
from  reaching  it  by  the  death  of  one  of  his  daugh- 
ters, who  was  killed  by  the  falling  of  a  tree  upon 
her  while  the  family  was  encamped  one  night  on  the 
way.  This  led  him  to  move  directly  to  the  farm  he 
had  purchased  the  year  before  on  the  head  of  Rich- 
land  Creek,  in  Sangamon  County,  which  continued 
to  be  his  home  as  long  as  he  lived.  The  following 
extracts  from  Mrs.  Johnson  will  give  us  a  picture  of 
the  man  at  this  period  of  his  life :  "  He  was  short, 
thick,  heavy  set,  with  a  large  head  and  short  neck, 
coarse  and  rough  in  his  manners,  and  any  thing 
else  but  grave.  After  preaching  with  power,  and 
praying  as  few  other  men  could — for  he  was  unsur- 
passed in  prayer — he  wrould  have  a  dozen  or  twenty 
persons,  frequently  some  of  them  the  roughest  in 
the  congregation,  all  indulging  in  uproarious  laugh- 
ter at  his  jests,  before  he  was  ten  feet  from  the 
pulpit."  "  He  was  at  times  as  kind  and  affectionate 
as  any  man,  but  often  as  abrupt  as  if  entirely  des- 
titute of  feeling."  "  He  was,  however,  generally 
affectionate  in  his  family.  When  his  wife  would 
chide  him  for  leaving  home  so  much  when  all  were 
not  well,  I  have  seen  him  sit  down  and  weep  like 
a  child  ;  and  when  he  came  home  from  his  round 
of  quarterly-meetings,  it  was  not  an  hour  before  he 
got  up  a  general  romp  with  the  children."  Rev. 
J.  M.  Gunn,  in  McFerrin's  "  Methodism  in  Ten- 
nessee," thus  refers  to  him:  "  About  the  year  1818 


CHA  RA  CT ERISTICS.  225 

Peter  Cartwright  traveled  the  Red  River  Circuit. 
His  house  was  thirty  miles  from  the  nearest  ap- 
pointment, which  was  Gunn's  society.  I  have 
known  him  to  leave  home  and  be  at  our  house  at 
eleven  o'clock,  preach,  and  hold  class-meeting,  and 
then  go  five  miles  and  preach  at  night,  carrying 
his  saddle-bags  of  books  for  sale.  I  never  knew 
him  to  get  hoarse  or  to  appear  tired.  He  was 
death  upon  whisky-drinking,  tobacco-chewing,  and 
coffee-dr inking.  Take  him  altogether,  he  was  one 
of  the  most  powerful  men  I  ever  heard."  The  fol- 
lowing is  Dr.  Rcdford's  estimate  of  him  :  "  But  few 
men  in  the  West  have  labored  with  more  untiring 
energy  in  the  ministry  than  Peter  Cartwright.  At 
the  time  he  entered  the  conference  the  circuits 
were  large  and  accommodations  poor,  and  a  very 
small  pittance  was  all  that  could  be  expected  for 
the  support  of  a  preacher.  Whilst  traveling  the 
Cumberland  District  he  often  returned  home  worn 
and  weary  from  his  quarterly-meetings,  and,  in 
order  to  support  his  family,  would  work  his  fields 
by  the  light  of  the  pale  moon.  Prompt  in  meeting 
his  appointments,  it  was  but  seldom  that  he  disap- 
pointed a  congregation.  Devoted  to  the  Church  of 
which  he  was  a  member  and  minister,  he  boldly 
defended  its  peculiarities  and  advocated  its  doc- 
trines. He  became  in  Kentucky,  before  he  left  the 
State,  a  '  terror  to  evil-doers/  administering  reproofs 
with  unsparing  hand.  Whether  we  consider  the 
extent  and  severity  of  his  labors,  the  privations  he 
endured,  the  humble  support  he  received  from  the 
Church,  the  fidelity  with  which  he  performed  his 


226  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

duties,  or  his  deep  devotion  to  the  cause  for  which 
he  was  laboring,  he  was  not  surpassed  by  any  of 
his  contemporaries.  It  is  true  there  was  much  in 
Mr.  Cartwright  of  which  we  would  gladly  have  di- 
vested him.  If  we  admire  the  boldness  with  which 
he  defended  the  Church,  we  would  have  preferred 
the  employment  of  milder  epithets  toward  his  ad- 
versaries. If  we  approve  of  his  preservation  of 
order  in  the  house  of  God,  we  would  remember  his 
reproofs  with  greater  pleasure  if  they  had  been  ad- 
ministered more  in  the  spirit  of  meekness.  With 
less  of  the  temper  of  resentment  that  so  often  distin- 
guished him,  he  would  have  been  more  useful  as  a 
minister  of  Christ;  nor  can  it  be  concealed  that  his 
peculiar  views,  as  well  as  his  manner  of  expressing 
them,  on  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery,  not  only 
greatly  impaired  his  usefulness,  but  arrested  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  Church.  We  have  already  re- 
ferred to  the  injury  Methodism  sustained  in  Ken- 
tucky, in  an  earlier  period  of  its  history,  by  the 
unfortunate  legislation  of  the  Church  on  this  ques- 
tion. It  is  equally  true  that  at  this  period  we  find 
a  few  of  the  preachers,  of  whom  Mr.  Cartwright 
was  the  acknowledged  leader,  by  their  interference 
with  slavery  as  a  civil  institution,  guilty  of  embar- 
rassing the  progress  of  the  Church  in  the  portions 
of  the  State  in  which  they  labored,  and  keeping 
out  of  its  communion  many  families  of  influence." 
That  which  Dr.  Redford  so  deeply  deplores  in  Mr. 
Cartwright — his  opposition  to  human  slavery — will 
in  the  North  be  regarded  as  one  of  his  greatest  ex- 
cellencies. Nor  will  the  spiritually  minded,  whether 


A  MINISTERIAL  LEADER.  227 

in  the  North  or  South,  regard  the  Church  as  suffer- 
ing loss  by  the  continued  exclusion  from  it  of 
worldly-minded  slaveholders,  however  high  their 
social  standing,  or  however  great  their  political  in- 
fluence. 

From  this  time  his  history  becomes  closely  iden- 
tified with  that  of  the  Illinois  Conference,  of  which 
he  continued  to  be  one  of  the  leaders  until  his 
death.  His  first  year  on  the  Sangamon  Circuit  was 
only  moderately  successful,  the  increase  in  the  mem- 
bership during  the  year  being  only  nineteen. 


228  JIETHODI3JI  IS  ILLINOIS. 


II. 

1825. 

W ABASH  DISTRICT— Charles  Hollidav,  P.  E. 

rcrmillion— James  Hadley.  — 

Carat  i— Robert  Delap. 

Wabadi — Thomas  Davis. 

Jfi.  Carmel— J.  W.  McReynolds. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT — Samuel  H.  Thompson,  P.  E. 

Jllinoif— Ebenezer  T.  AVebster. 

K(i*ta*tia — William  Moore. 

Cash  /rtrvr— Philip  Cole,  Asa  D.  West 

J//.  Yfni'.m — Onc^eneth  Fisher. 

&»<*tl  Cr*<t— Joseph  Foolks. 

Sanyamon — Peter  Canvrright  (who  is  also  Snper- 

intendent   of    the  Pottawattomie   Mission), 

William  Chambers. 
Panrin — AVilliam  .See. 
Miffisfippi — William  MedionL 
BrmmfriHf — Josiah  Patterson. 
Jesse  Walker,  Missionary  to  the  Pottawattomie 

Indians. 

THE  second  session  of  the  Illinois  Conference 
was  held  at  Charleston,  Indiana,  beginning  on 
Thursday,  Angust  25th,  and  closing  on  the  following 
Monday.  Bishops  McKendree  and  Roberts  were 
both  present ;  but  the  journal  is  signed  by  Bishop 
Roberts,  Calvin  W.  Ruter  was  secretary.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  usual  minute  business,  the  following  items 
are  of  interest.  When  the  name  of  Ebenezer  T. 


MISSION  WORK.  229 

Webster,  a  deacon  of  the  second  year,  was  called,  some 
objections  were  made  on  account  of  his  having  be- 
come a  Freemason,  and  the  conference  refused  to 
elect  him  to  elder's  orders.  Some  days  afterwards 
the  vote  was  reconsidered,  and  lie  was  elected.  The 
Book  Concern  dividend  to  the  conference  this  year 
was  $150,  and  that  of  the  Chartered  Fund  $80. 

The  conference  resolved  that  in  future  a  rec- 
ommendation in  favor  of  every  local  preacher  who 
applies  for  readmission  into  the  traveling  connection 
should  be  obtained  from  the  quarterly  conference  of 
which  he  is  a  member. 

A  memorial  having  been  presented  from  a  local 
preacher  who  had  been  expelled  in  1823,  two  years 
before,  the  conference  submitted  to  the  chair  the 
question  whether  his  case  could  now  legally  be 
considered,  and  Bishop  Roberts  decided  that  it 
could  not. 

Jesse  Walker,  conference  missionary  among  the 
Indians,  submitted  a  report  resj>ecting  his  labors, 
which  was  accepted,  and  articles  of  agreement  lx?- 
tween  him  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Pottawattomie 
Indians  having  been  read  and  approved  by  the  con- 
ference, he  was  clothed  with  proper  authority  to  en- 
ter into  such  agreement,  and  furnished  with  suitable 
instructions  as  missionary  amongst  them.  A  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  meet  with  the  bishops  to 
estimate  the  amount  of  money  needed  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  mission. 

Mr.  Walker  wrote  shortly  afterwards  to  the  mis- 
sionary society,  giving  the  following  sketch  of  his 
operations.  His  letter  is  dated  October  25,  1825. 


230  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

"In  the  Spring  of  1824  I  opened  a  communication 
with  the  Pottawattomie  Indians,  and  found  they 
were  willing  to  receive  a  missionary  then;  but  my 
call  to  the  General  Conference  prevented  me  from 
holding  a  satisfactory  council  with  them.  Being 
reappointed  the  next  Autumn  by  Bishop  Roberts,  I 
opened  a  school  at  Fort  Clarke  on  the  Illinois  River, 
which  continued  through  the  Winter,  and  in  which 
I  had  six  Indian  children,  whose  progress  was  ex- 
tremely flattering  for  so  short  a  period.  In  the 
Spring  of  1825,  with  five  white  families,  I  pro- 
ceeded to  the  mouth  of  Fox  River,  shortly  after 
which  I  had  a  most  satisfactory  council  with  five 
chiefs  of  said  tribe.  We  immediately  built  cabins 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  families.  I  then 
opened  a  school  into  which  I  received  fourteen 
Indian  children.  But  finding  that  the  station  was 
not  located  on  Indian  land,  I  proceeded  up  Fox 
River  about  thirteen  miles  further,  selected  a  sta- 
tion, and  am  now  preparing  to  move  into  it.  The 
place  selected  for  the  establishment  is  about  one 
hundred  miles  above  Fort  Clarke,  about  twenty 
miles  north  of  the  Illinois  River,  and  between  it 
and  Fox  River.  The  soil  is  very  good,  timber 
plenty,  and  the  spot  well  watered." 

At  this  session  a  committee  on  necessitous  cases 
seems  to  have  been  appointed  for  the  first  time. 
"  The  stewards  having  made  a  distribution  of  the  div- 
idend money  to  the  claimants,  a  committee  of  three 
was  appointed  to  appropriate  a  small  balance  that 
had  been  reserved  to  those  whom  they  might  con- 
ceive the  most  needy,  and  report  their  doings  to  the 


CONFERENCE  ACTION.  231 

conference."  Forty-five  dollars  was  distributed  by 
them. 

The  conference  ordered  that  each  preacher  shall 
in  future  bring  a  certificate  from  the  recording  stew- 
ard of  the  circuit  or  station  where  he  has  labored, 
stating  how  much  he  has  received  as  quarterage,  how 
much  as  traveling  expenses,  and  how  much  for  table 
expenses. 

Near  the  close  of  the  session  a  conference  mis- 
sionary society  was  formed. 

Six  preachers  were  received  on  trial  this  year: — 
Philip  Cole,  Eli  P.  Farmer,  James  Hadley,  William 
See,  Joseph  Tarkington,  Asa  D.  West. 

William  Chambers,  Charles  Holliday,  and  George 
Locke  were  received  by  transfer  from  the  Kentucky 
Conference. 

Joseph  Foulks,  John  W.  McReynolds,  and  Will- 
iam Shanks  were  readmitted. 

Samuel  Hull,  Cornelius  Ruddle,  Peter  Stephens, 
and  Dennis  Wiley  were  located. 

John  Fish,  Jacob  Varner,  and  James  E.  Johnson 
were  discontinued. 

John  Dew  and  Thomas  Randle  were  transferred 
to  the  Missouri  Conference,  Thomas  Rice  to  the 
Holston  Conference,  and  Edward  Smith  to  the  Bal- 
timore Conference. 

The  following  local  preachers  were  elected  to  dea- 
con's orders :  John  Havens,  James  Jaggers,  Bennett 
Hancock,  William  Sterrett,  Joseph  Basey,  William 
See. 

And  the  following  local  deacons  to  ciders'  or- 
ders; Joseph  Arnold,  Isham  West,  James  Nolan. 


232  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

A  change  was  made  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
districts  this  year,  all  the  charges  on  the  Wabash 
in  Illinois  being  united  with  a  number  in  Indiana, 
and  formed  into  a  Wabash  District,  under  the  .su- 
perintendence of  Charles  Holliday ;  the  remainder 
of  the  work  constituting  the  Illinois  District,  of 
which  S.  H.  Thompson  was  presiding  elder.  A 
new  circuit,  the  Carmi,  was  formed  from  the  Mt. 
Carmel  and  Wabash  Circuits;  but  this  seems  to 
have  been  only  a  temporary  arrangement,  for  the 
next  year  it  disappears,  reunited  to  the  original 
charges.  Two  new  circuits  were  formed  on  the  Illi- 
nois District,  the  Peoria  (or  Peora  or  Paori  as  it  is 
printed  in  the  Minutes),  including  the  town  of 
Peoria  on  the  west  side  of  the  Illinois  River,  and 
the  settlements  previously  embraced  in  the  Sanga- 
nion  Circuit  north  of  Salt  Creek;  and  the  Browns- 
ville Circuit  formed  from  the  northern  part  of  the 
old  Cash  River  Circuit. 

The  first  Methodist  sermon  was  preached  this 
year  in  the  town  of  Rushville  by  Rev.  LEVEN 
GREKX,  who  had  just  moved  to  the  neighborhood 
from  Missouri.  Mr.  Green  first  appears  as  a  supply 
on  the  Maramec  Circuit,  Missouri,  in  1811,  having 
been  appointed  by  the  presiding  elder,  Samuel  Par- 
ker, to  travel  under  John  McFarland.  Whilst  on 
this  circuit  he  married  the  belle  of  the  settlement, 
which  so  enraged  her  numerous  suitors,  amongst 
whom  was  his  colleague,  that  they  did  not  rest  until 
Green  was  expelled  from  the  Church.  In  1818 
John  Scripps,  who  had  charge  of  Boonslick  Circuit, 
found  him  living  on  the  Missouri  River,  and  re- 


LEVEN  GREEN.  233 

ceived  him  again  into  the  Church  and  gave  him 
license  to  exhort.  He  was  soon  after  licensed  to 
preach,  and  in  1821  was  sent  as  a  supply  to  the 
Lamoine  Circuit.  In  1825,  as  stated  above,  he 
moved  to  Schuyler  County,  Illinois,  and  remained 
there  five  or  six  years.  He  then  returned  to  Mis- 
souri, where  he  probably  died.  He  was  a  great 
oddity.  Utterly  indifferent  about  his  personal  ap- 
pearance, he  would  frequently  appear  in  the  garb 
in  which  Mr.  Scripps  met  him  as  he  was  exploring 
the  country  —  "an  old  round-crown  felt  hat,  with 
half  the  rim  torn  or  worn  off,  the  other  half  slouch- 
ing down  behind;  a  coarse  shirt  stuck  into  the 
waistband  of  an  almost  worn  out  pair  of  deerskin 
breeches,  reaching  a  little  below  the  knee,  bare- 
legged and  shoeless."  He  had  but  three  books,  his 
Bible,  hymn-book,  and  camp-meeting  songs.  Yet, 
"  his  discourses  were  clear,  comprehensive,  appro- 
priate, and  to  the  point,  delivered  Hi  good  language, 
yet  not  unmixed  with  a  plentiful  sprinkling  of  vari- 
ous backwoods  idioms,  sayings,  and  witticisms,  giv- 
ing a  startling  effect  and  attractive  raciness  to  his 
discourses,  and  rather  adding  to  than  detracting 
from  their  merits."  "He  was  purely  an  original, 
no  man's  counterpart,  an  eccentric  genius,  an  inter- 
esting and  always  acceptable  preacher,  whenever, 
wherever,  and  by  whomsoever  listened  to.  His  ser- 
mon izings  were  at  once  the  admiration  and  aston- 
ishment of  all  competent  judges  of  good  preaching, 
looking  to  the  presence  from  whence  they  emanated. 
I  used  to  denominate  him  'the  Lord's  prodigy.'"1 

1  Rev.  J.  Scrippfe. 

20 


234  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

This  year,  too,  the  first  society  was  organized  in 
Lebanon.  The  first  place  of  worship  was  a  log 
school-house,  which  was  afterwards  replaced  by  a 
frame  building.  But  as  soon  as  a  seminary  build- 
ing was  erected  the  society  worshiped  in  the  chapel, 
which  they  continued  to  occupy  until  the  erection 
of  a  brick  church  in  1853. 

A  class  was  also  organized  in  Belleville  this  year. 
It  consisted  of  Richard  Randle  and  wife,  James  and 
Ann  Mitchell,  James  Harrison  and  wife,  Susan 
Dennis,  and  Caroline  E.  Blackwell.  The  class  met 
in  Dennis's  school-house,  with  Richard  Randle  as 
the  leader.  A  class  had  been  formed  some  time 
before  this  about  a  mile  and  a  half  north-west,  but 
this  was  the  first  in  town. 

The  increase  in  the  membership  this  year  was 
only  176;  the  entire  report  being  3,859  whites  and 
49  colored. 

CHARLES  HOLLIDAY  began  this  year  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Illinois  Conference.  He  was  a  native 
of  Baltimore,  born  November  23,  1771.  His  pa- 
rents were  Presbyterians,  and  he  was  educated  for 
the  ministry  of  that  Church.  But  his  parents  dy- 
ing before  he  was  of  age,  he  abandoned  the  idea  of 
entering  the  ministry  and  turned  his  attention  to 
secular  pursuits.  In  his  twenty-second  year  he  was 
married,  and  the  day  after  his  marriage,  with  his 
wife,  he  united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  on  the  same  evening  commenced  fam- 
ily devotion.  Of  the  time  or  circumstances  of 
his  conversion,  we  have  no  information.  He  was 
licensed  to  preach  in  1797,  and  in  1809  he  united 


CHARLES  IIOLLIDAY.  235 

with  the  Western  Conference,  and  was  appointed 
to  Danville  Circuit.  The  two  following  years  he 
traveled  the  Lexington  Circuit.  In  1812,  falling 
into  the  Ohio  Conference,  he  was  sent  to  Shelby, 
and  in  1813  to  the  Salt  River  District,  on  which  he 
remained  three  yeans,  at  the  expiration  of  which  he 
located.  The  next  year  he  was  readmitted  in  the 
Tennessee  Conference,  and  appointed  to  the  Cum- 
berland District,  on  which  he  traveled  three  years 
in  connection  with  that  conference,  and  one  in  the 
Kentucky  Conference,  into  which  the  district  fell 
in  1820.  Then  for  the  four  following  years,  he  was 
on  the  Green  River  District,  and  in  1825  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Illinois  Conference  and  placed  on 
Wabash  District,  which  he  traveled  for  three  years. 
When  first  transferred  to  Illinois  he  settled  near 
Whitehall,  but  on  account  of  sickness  he  changed 
his  residence  to  Mt.  Carmel,  where  he  continued, 
until  his  removal  to  Cincinnati. 

At  the  General  Conference  of  1828  he  was 
elected  agent  of  the  Western  Book  Concern,  and 
four  years  afterwards  he  was  re-elected  to  the  same 
position.  During  this  period  he  held  his  member- 
ship in  the  Ohio  Conference,  but  at  the  expiration 
of  his  service  as  Book  Agent,  he  transferred  again 
to  the  Illinois  Conference  and  was  appointed  to  Leb- 
anon District,  upon  which  and  on  Alton  District  he 
traveled  until  1844.  He  was  then  assigned  to  the 
Grafton  Circuit,  and  the  following  year  to  Carlinville, 
where  he  closed  his  active  labors.  His  health  hav- 
ing failed,  he  was  granted  a  superannuated  relation 
in  1846,  in  which  he  remained  until  his  death, 


236  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

March  8,  1850,  at  his  residence  near  Chesterfield. 
He  was  five  times  a  member  of  General  Confer- 
ence, twice  from  the  Ohio  Conference,  and  once 
each  from  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and  Illinois.  From 
his  memoir  in  the  General  Minutes,  and  from  the 
statements  of  others  who  knew  him,  we  may  form 
a  fair  estimate  of  his  character  and  worth.  Says 
his  memoir :  "  Although  his  sufferings  in  his  last 
illness  were  extreme,  he  frequently  exulted  in  the 
grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  enabled 
him  to  bear  so  much  suffering  without  complain- 
ing. He  retained  his  reason  to  the  last.  It  had 
been  his  practice  for  thirty  years  to  pray  three  times 
a  day  in  his  family,  and  from  his  devotional  spirit 
we  wonder  not  that  his  sun  of  life  set  in  great 
peace.  In  summing  up  the  character  of  our  lamen- 
ted Brother  Holliday,  we  may  say  that  there  are 
few  traits  of  real  excellence  that  he  did  not  possess 
in  an  eminent  degree.  As  a  preacher,  he  was  clear, 
sound,  and  practical.  When  he  indulged  in  doc- 
trinal controversy,  although  he  was  decided  and 
expressed  his  views  in  strong  language,  he  was 
always  kind  and  loving  to  the  person  of  an  oppo- 
nent. In  all  the  relations  of  life,  as  a  husband,  a 
father,  a  pastor,  a  friend,  a  companion,  he  was  a 
most  lovely  and  interesting  man,  and  in  the  suffer- 
ings and  disappointments  of  life  his  conduct  was 
characterized  by  that  charity  which  '  suffereth  long 
and  is  kind.' " 

Mr.  Beggs  says  of  him :  "  He  was  my  elder 
when  I  was  on  the  Vincennes  Circuit,  and  few 
men  ever  proved  a  greater  blessing  to  me.  The 


JAMES  HADLEY.  237 

precision  and  directness  of  the  appeals  in  his  edify- 
ing, soul-stirring  sermons  produced  effects  which 
remained  fresh  and  powerful  for  weeks.  He  was  a 
great  help  in  establishing  me  in  the  work  of  holi- 
ness of  heart.  What  a  man  of  God  was  he !  A 
Methodist  preacher  in  very  truth.  I  am  afraid  I 
should  have  gone  astray  had  he  not  held  me  to  the 
virtue  of  wearing  plain  apparel." 

"  Charles  Holliday,"  says  Mrs.  Johnson,  "  was 
our  presiding  elder  (on  the  Green  River  District), 
and  an  excellent  man  he  was.  He  was  somewhat 
tall  and  very  spare,  but  full  of  fire  when  roused. 
Few  men  had  so  shrill  and  musical  a  voice  as  he; 
and  when  he  became  animated  with  his  subject  his 
thin  form  seemed  to  tremble  in  every  muscle,  and  his 
clear,  ringing  tones  thrilled  like  electricity." 

"  For  the  office  of  presiding  elder,"  says  Dr. 
Redford,  "  he  was  eminently  qualified.  His  fine 
executive  talents,  his  marked  ability  in  the  pulpit, 
whether  in  defending  the  doctrines  and  peculiarities 
of  Methodism,  or  enforcing  its  practical  and  ex- 
perimental truths,  together  with  the  kindness  and 
gentleness  he  showed  toward  the  younger  preachers 
in  his  district,  rendered  him  a  universal  favorite  as 
a  presiding  elder  during  his  stay  in  Kentucky.  No 
man  in  the  West  was  better  adapted  to  the  training 
of  young  men  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  than 
he."  Says  Dr.  McFerrin :  "  He  was  a  man  of 
power  and  great  circumspection,  and  wielded  great 
influence  in  favor  of  religion." 

JAMES  HADLKY  had  just  been  received  on  trial 
in  the  conference.  He  traveled  in  succession  the 


238  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Vermillion,  Kaskaskia,  Wabash,  Carlisle,  Peters- 
burg, Greencastle,  Washington,  Fairfiekl,  Alton, 
Quincy,  Iowa,  Mt.  Carmel,  Sangamon,  Shawnee- 
town,  and  Worcester  Circuits,  and  in  1840  he  was 
granted  a  superannuated  relation,  in  which  he  con- 
tinued for  three  years.  Then  he  labored  on  the 
Greenville,  Carlisle,  Lebanon,  and  Waterloo  Cir- 
cuits until  1847,  when  he  was  again  placed  on  the 
superannuated  list  for  a  year.  In  1848—9  he  was 
on  Edwardsville  Circuit,  and  in  1850  at  Illinois- 
town.  The  next  year  his  name  does  not  appear 
on  the  minutes.  In  1852  he  fell  into  the  Southern 
Illinois  Conference,  and  was  sent  to  Marion  Circuit. 
The  next  year  he  was  appointed  to  Collinsville  Cir- 
cuit as  supernumerary,  and  in  1854  he  was  again 
on  the  superannuated  list.  In  1855  he  was  sent  to 
Carlisle,  the  next  year  to  Waterloo,  and  at  the  con- 
ference of  1857  he  was  granted  a  location.  He  died 
a  few  years  afterwards  at  his  residence  near  Collins- 
ville. He  was  a  good  man,  calm  and  equable  in 
disposition,  and  uniform  in  his  religious  life,  a  mod- 
erate preacher,  yet  generally  acceptable  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  standing  fair  on  the  circuits  he  traveled. 

JOHN  WHEELER  MCREYNOLDS  was  born  in 
Washington  County,  Virginia,  February  6,  1800. 
As  stated  in  the  sketch  of  his  brother  William,  he 
was  the  child  of  deeply  devoted  Christian  parents, 
under  whose  faithful  instruction  he  not  only  became 
deeply  impressed  with  religious  truth,  but  well- 
versed  in  the  doctrines  and  usages  of  the  Church. 
He  was  converted  in  1819,  and  the  following  year 
was  sent  by  the  presiding  elder,  Charles  Holliday, 


ASA  D.  WEST.  239 

as  a  supply  to  the  Somerset  Circuit,  with  G.  "W. 
Taylor  as  his  colleague.  At  the  session  of  the  Ten- 
nessee Conference,  in  1820,  he  was  received  on  trial, 
and  assigned  to  Little  Sandy  Circuit,  in  the  Ken- 
tucky Conference,  and  the  next  year  to  Goose  Creek. 
In  1822,  after  having  been  admitted  into  full  con^ 
nection  and  ordained  deacon,  owing  to  feeble  health, 
he  located.  The  same  Fall  he  removed  to  Illinois, 
and  settled  near  his  brother-in-law,  Colonel  Mayo, 
in  Edgar  County.  In  1825  he  was  readmitted  in 
the  Illinois  Conference,  as  already  stated,  and  as- 
signed to  the  Mt.  Carmcl  Circuit,  which  he  trav- 
eled for  two  years.  From  1827  until  1834  he  trav- 
eled in  Indiana,  becoming  a  member  of  the  Indiana 
Conference  at  its  formation,  in  1832,  and  in  1835 
he  was  placed  on  the  .superannuated  list.  The  next 
year  he  was  transferred  to  the  Illinois  Conference, 
and  continued  in  a  superannuated  relation  until 
1841,  when,  owing  to  the  protracted  affliction,  men- 
tal and  bodily,  of  his  wife,  which  rendered  his  return 
to  the  active  work  of  the  itinerancy  highly  improb- 
able, he  asked  and  received  a  location.  Eight  days 
after  the  death  of  his  afflicted  companion,  he  died, 
filled  with  joy,  on  the  15th  of  October,  1846. 

PHILIP  COLE  traveled  only  this  year.  At  its 
close  he  was  discontinued  at  his  own  request. 

ASA  D.  WEST  was  assigned  to  the  Cash  River 
Circuit  this  year,  in  1826  to  Patoka,  and  at  the 
conference  of  1827  he  was  received  into  full  con- 
nection, ordained  deacon,  and,  at  his  own  request, 
granted  a  location.  The  next  year  he  was  read- 
mitted and  assigned  to  the  Atlas  Circuit,  and  in 


240  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

1829  to  the  Spoon  River  Circuit,  and  again  located 
in  1830.  Six  years  afterwards  he  was  readmitted 
and  assigned  to  Hock  Island,  in  1837  to  Mt.  Pleas- 
ant, and  in  1838  to  Knoxville;  in  1839  he  again 
retired  from  the  itinerant  to  the  local  ranks.  In 
1855  he  was  readmitted  in  the  Missouri  Conference, 
traveled  until  1860,  when,  for  the  fourth  time,  he 
located,  and  the  Minutes  give  no  further  account 
of  him. 

Of  JOSEPH  FOUI.KS,  who  was  this  year  readmitted 
into  the  itinerant  work,  we  have  an  interesting  ac- 
count in  Redford's  Methodism  in  Kentucky,  from 
which  the  following  sketch  is  in  part  condensed. 
He  was  born  in  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey, 
August  30,  1786.  His  parents  were  from  Wales 
and  were  members  of  the  Moravian  Church.  His 
mother,  however,  became  a  Methodist,  and  two  of 
his  sons  afterwards  became  Methodist  preachers. 
Before  Joseph  was  seventeen  he  was  converted  and 
united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  In 
1811  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  in  the  Fall  of 
the  same  year  united  with  the  Western  Conference. 
After  traveling  four  years  in  Tennessee  and  Ken- 
tucky, he  located  in  1815  and  settled  in  Logan 
County,  Kentucky.  In  1820  he  removed  to  Illi- 
nois, laboring  with  energy  as  a  local  preacher;  and 
by  his  labors  in  the  pulpit  and  the  piety  of  his  life, 
contributing  much  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Church. 
In  1825,  as  already  stated,  he  was  readmitted  to  the 
Illinois  Conference  and  appointed  to  Shoal  Creek 
Circuit.  Whilst  on  this  charge,  he  killed  a  man  in 
self-defense.  He  had  said  something  in  a  sermon 


JOSEPH  FOULKS.  241 

that  displeased  the  man,  a  drunken  half  Indian, 
half  negro,  who  swore  that  he  would  take  the 
preacher's  life.  The  fears  of  the  family  with  whom 
he  was  staying  being  aroused  by  seeing  the  man 
whet  his  knife,  they  urged  Mr.  Foulks  to  be  on  his 
guard.  Accordingly,  upon  retiring,  he  took  with 
him  a  gun  and  remained  awake  to  watch.  In  the 
night  the  Indian  crept  stealthily  up  the  stairway 
with  his  knife  and  gun  in  his  hand,  and  just  as  he 
appeared  above,  Mr.  Foulks  fired ;  the  ball  struck 
the  man  in  the  breast,  killing  him  instantly.  At 
the  ensuing  conference  his  conduct  was  "  fully  ap- 
proved." At  the  close  of  his  second  year  on  this 
charge  he  again  located.  In  1835  he  was  again  re- 
admitted and  appointed  to  Alton  City,  but  with 
impaired  health  he  was  .compelled  to  locate  at  the 
close  of  the  year,  and  never  re-entered  the  traveling 
connection.  In  1837  he  returned  to  Kentucky  and 
settled  in  Logan  County,  where  he  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life.  In  this  community  he  lived 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  a  laborious  and  success- 
ful local  preacher,  and  where  his  name  and  memory 
will  long  be  fragrant.  One  who  knew  him  we'll 
says:  "His  call  to  the  ministry  was  fully  established 
by  the  success  that  crowned  his  efforts  in  the  vari- 
ous departments  of  ministerial  labor.  His  talents 
were  above  mediocrity.  He  spoke  with  fluency ; 
and,  although  his  preaching  was  generally  of  a  prac- 
tical and  experimental  character,  yet  he  was  per- 
fectly familiar  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible.  His 
literary  attainments  were  not  such  as  to  entitle  him, 
in  modern  parlance,  to  the  name  of  a  learned  man, 
21 


242  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

yet  his  mind  was  well  stored  with  useful  knowledge. 
He  was  uncompromising  in  his  fidelity  to  his  own 
branch  of  the  Church,  and  deprecated  every  depar- 
ture from  the  old  paths."  On  the  3d  of  May, 
1863,  he  slept  with  his  fathers.  His  last  illness, 
though  not  protracted,  was  attended  with  severe 
suffering;  but  his  mind  was  kept  in  perfect  peace. 
His  last  moments  were  full  of  triumph. 

WILLIAM  CHAMBERS  was  born  in  Calvert 
County,  Maryland,  in  1796.  He  was  brought  up 
in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  but  in  early 
life  professed  religion  and  united  with  the  Method- 
ists in  Baltimore.  When  a  young  man  he  served 
two  years  in  the  War  of  1812.  In  1820  he  was  re- 
ceived on  trial  in  the  Kentucky  Conference,  and 
after  traveling  in  i-t  four  years  was  transferred  to 
the  Illinois  Conference  and  appointed  to  the  San- 
gamon  Circuit  as  junior  preacher,  with  Peter  Cart- 
wright  as  his  senior.  At  the  close  of  the  year  he 
asked  and  was  granted  a  location.  Twa-years  after- 
wards he  was  readmitted,  and  traveled  first  the  Illi- 
nois, and  then  the  Shoal  Creek  Circuit,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  year  again  located.  In  1838  he  was 
readmitted,  and,  after  traveling  Apple  Creek  and 
Carlinville  Circuits,  again  located.  The  next  year 
he  was  readmitted  once  more,  and  appointed  succes- 
sively to  the  American  Bottom,  Manchester,  Carlin- 
ville, and  Sharon  charges.  Refusing  to  go  to  his 
last  appointment,  his  place  was  supplied  by  the  pre- 
siding elder,  and,  at  the  ensuing  session  of  confer- 
ence one  of  his  friends  asked  for  him  a  location, 
which  the  conference  granted.  He  continued  in  the 


WILLIAM  SEE.  243 

local  ranks  until  his  death  in  1859,  at  his  residence 
near  Taylorville.  Brother  Chambers  was  a  little 
below  medium  size,  spare  and  delicate  in  appear- 
ance. He  was  an  acceptable  preacher,  and  an  ac- 
tive, energetic  man. 

WILLIAM  SEE  traveled  only  two  years — both  on 
the  newly  formed  Peoria  Circuit,  and  at  the  expira- 
tion of  his  term  was  discontinued  at  his  own  request. 
During  these  two  years  he  was  active  in  carrying 
the  Gospel  to  the  newly  formed  settlements,  and 
organizing  the  scattering  Methodists  into  societies. 
He  formed  the  first  class  in  Schuyler  County,  in 
the  cabin  of  the  first  settler,  Calvin  Hobart.  After 
he  ceased  traveling,  he  became  government  black- 
smith for  the  Indians.  He  lived  in  Chicago,  where 
Mr.  Beggs,  the  pastor,  appointed  him  the  first  class- 
leader. 


244  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


III. 

1826. 

WABASII  DISTRICT — Charles  Holliday,  P.  E. 

Vermiliutn — Eli  P.  Fanner. 

Wabash— Robert  Delap. 

Mt.   Vernon — Thomas  H.  Files.. 

ML  Cannel— John  W.  McReynolds. 

Cdsh  River — William  Evans. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT— Peter  Cartwright,  P.  E.  and 
Superintendent  of  the  Pottawattomie  Mission. 
Illinois — Samuel  H.  Thompson,  Sup.,  John  Miller. 
Kask'askia — Josiah  Patterson,  sup.,  James  Hadley. 
Shoal  Creek— Joseph  Foulks. 

Sangamon— Richard  Hargrave,  Joseph  Tarkington. 
Peoria— William  See. 

Mississippi — Thomas  Randle,  Isaac  S.  House. 
Alias— William  Medford. 
Pottawattomie  Mission — Jesse  Walker. 

THE  conference  held  its  third  session  at  Bloom- 
ington,  Indiana,  commencing  on  Thursday,  Sep** 
tember  28th,  and  closing  on  the  following  Tuesday. 
Bishops  Roberts  and  Soule  were  both  in  attendance, 
presiding  alternately,  and  the  journal  is  signed  by' 
both.     The  attendance  seems  to   have  been  small, 
only  eleven  answering  to  their  names  at  the  open- 
ing session.      Calvin   Ruter  was  elected  secretary, 
and  Charles  Holliday  assistant  secretary.     The  jour- 
nal was  written  by  Mr.  Holliday,  and  is  a  model  of 


CORRESPONDENCE.  .  245 

chirographical  neatness  and  clearness.  At  this  ses- 
sion a  committee  was  appointed  to  draw  up  rules 
for  the  government  of  the  conference,  with  instruc- 
tions to  report  as  soon  as  convenient.  The  report 
was  not  presented  until  the  next  session.  Drafts 
were  ordered  on  the  Book  Concern  for  $150,  and 
on  the  Chartered  Fund  for  $190. 

Some  complaints  were  made  against  Peter  Cart- 
wright  through  a  member  of  this  conference  by 
John  Schrader,  a  local  preacher,  relative  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Brother  Cartwright  when  acting  as 
president  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  Hopkinsville 
meeting-house  in  Kentucky.  After  some  discussion, 
Brother  Cartwright  was  exonerated  from  any  cen- 
sure in  the  case,  and  his  character  was  approved. 

The  conference  voted  unanimously  to  concur 
with  the  Mississippi  Annual  Conference  in  recom- 
mending to  the  General  Conference  at  its  next  ses- 
sion to  alter  the  Restrictive  Rule  so  that  it  would 
read :  "  They  shall  not  allow  of  more  than  one  rep- 
resentative for  every  seven  members  of  the  annual 
conference,  nor  allow  of  a  less  number  than  one  for 
every  twenty-one."  Votes  were  carried  to  patronize 
the  Christian  Advocate,  published  by  the  agents  of 
the  Methodist  Book  Concern  at  New  York,  and 
also  to  patronize  Augusta  College. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  address  a  letter  to 
the  Rev.  John  T.  Hamilton,  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee on  correspondence  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  answer  to  a  communi- 
cation which  this  conference  had  received  from  him. 
The  subject  of  the  communication  is  not  stated. 


246  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

The  Sabbath  collection  was  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  four  presiding  elders  to  be  distributed  to  the 
most  needy ;  and  a  surplus  of  $14.37|  in  the  hands 
of  the  stewards  was  ordered  to  be  given  to  the 
preacher  who  may  be  appointed  to  the  Atlas  Circuit. 

It  was  ordered  that  the  Pottawattomie  Mission 
be  continued,  and  that  every  preacher  of  the  con- 
ference exert  himself  to  procure  funds  and  means 
for  the  support  of  said  mission,  and  that  St.  Louis 
and  Fort  Clarke  be  the  places  of  deposit  of  those 
articles  conveyed  by  water,  and  Springfield,  Sanga- 
mon  County,  for  those  articles  and  moneys  by  land. 
It  was  estimated  that  one  thousand  dollars  would 
be  necessary  and  amply  sufficient  for  the  support 
of  the  mission. 

On  the  25th  of  December  of  this  year,  the  su- 
perintendent of  the  mission  wrote  to  John  Emory, 
the  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Missionary  Soci- 
ety, as  follows:  "The  Pottawattoraie  Mission  was 
established  on  Fox  River,  twenty  miles  from  its 
entrance  into  the  Illinois  River.  We  have  pre- 
pared a  building,  thirty  by  fifty,  with  five  rooms, 
two  stories  high,  and  some  other  buildings.  We 
have  opened  forty  acres  of  a  farm.  We  have  a 
school  in  operation,  with  about  twenty  Indian 
children,  Avho  promise  to  learn  rapidly.  The  mis- 
sion family  consists  of  the  missionary  and  wife,  one 
teacher,  two  laboring  men,  and  two  women.  I 
think  this  nation  will  receive  the  Gospel." 

The  following  mysterious  item  appears  among 
the  closing  proceedings^of  the  session  :  "Samuel  H. 
Thompson  was  by  the  president  appointed  to  obtain 


CHANGES  MADE.  247 

a  copy  of  the  report  of  the  committee  of  safety 
that  it  may  be  entered  on  the  journals  of  this 
conference." 

The  following  class  was  received  on  trial :  Henry 
Buell,  Robert  Burns,  Abner  H.  Cheever,  William 
Evans,  Thomas  H.  Files,  John  Hogan,  Isaac  S. 
House,  John  T.  Johnson,  Daniel  Newton,  Stith  M. 
Otwell,  Smith  L.  Robinson. 

James  Scott  was  readmitted. 

Seven  located,  viz.:  Thomas  Hewson,  George  K. 
Hester,  William  Chambers,  Hackaliah  Vredenburg, 
Samuel  Bassett,  James  Jones,  Ebenezer  T.  Webster. 

One  local  deacon  was  elected  to  elder's  orders; 
viz.,  Robert  Burns.  And  Samuel  Bellamy,  Levi 
Poston,  Samuel  Morrison,  Gamaliel  Taylor,  Thomas 
Lowry,  Thomas  C.  Collins,  Reuben  Clearwater, 
Humphrey  Finch,  and  Samuel  Lyon  were  elected 
to  deacon's  orders. 

Some  changes  were  made  in  the  plan  of  the 
work  in  Illinois.  The  Carmi  and  Brownsville  Cir- 
cuits were  merged  in  the  circuits  from  which  they 
had  been  taken.  The  Cash  River  and  Mt.  Vernon 
Circuits  were  transferred  from  the  Illinois  to  the 
Wabash  District.  Perhaps  this  was  done  to  concil- 
iate Peter  Cartwright,  who  was  appointed  presiding 
elder  of  the  Illinois  District.  He  once  said  of 
Cash  River  in  the  cabinet:  "I  have  known  that 
country  for  many  years.  The  raccoons  get  half  the 
corn,  and  the  people  have  none  to  sell,  and  I  won't 
have  it  in  my  district."  A  new  circuit,  the  Atlas, 
was  formed  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  Territory 
between  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  known 


248 


METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


familiarly  as  "  the  Military  Tract/'  extending  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River  to  Canton,  in  Ful- 
ton County. 

There  were  extensive  revivals  on  several  of  the 
charges  both  during  the  Winter  and  at  the  camp- 
meetings.  On  Big  Creek,  Vermillion  Circuit,  un- 
der the  labors  of  Eli  P.  Farmer,  was  a  good  work 
of  grace,  and  many  were  gathered  into  the  Church. 
Under  the  labors  of  William  Blackwell,  a  local 
preacher,  there  was  a  good  revival  in  Bellevelle, 
and  about  forty  united  with  the  Church.  On  the 
Sangamon  Circuit  a  change  was  made  in  the  pastor- 
ate. The  health  of  Mr.  Hargrave,  the  preacher  in 
charge,  having  failed,  he  left  the  circuit  in  the 
Spring  for  his  home  in  Indiana,  and  the  junior 
preacher,  Joseph  Tarkington,  was  put  in  charge,  and 
James  Johnson  employed  as  his  assistant  to  the  end 
of  the  year.  Two  camp-meetings  were  held  on  the 
circuit;  one  at  Walter's  camp-ground,  on  Spring 
Creek,  and  another  near  Jacksonville,  at  Hender- 
shott's,  at  both  of  which  were  good  revivals.  To- 
wards the  close  of  the  conference  year  a  camp- 
meeting  was  held  in  Pike  County,  of  which  Peter 
Cartwright  gives  an  account :  "  We  had  but  one 
tent  on  the  ground,  and  that  was  called  '  the  preach- 
er's tent.'  The  people  rolled  on  to  the  ground  in 
their  wagons.  We  held  this  meeting  several  days 
and  nights  in  this  way,  and  we  had  a  prosperous 
meeting.  We  held  one  in  Schuyler  County  the 
same  season,  and  many  souls  were  blessed." 

Among  the  laymen  who  this  year  became  iden- 
tified with  Methodism  in  Illinois  was  DR.  JOHN 


LAYMEN.  249 

LOG  AX,  who  afterwards  occupied  a  prominent  posi- 
tion in  the  State  as  well  as  in  the  Church.  He  was 
born  in  Hamilton  County,  Ohio,  December  30, 1809. 
When  but  a  child  he  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Perry  County,  Missouri,  and  in  1826  to  Jackson 
County,  Illinois.  He  was  converted  this  year,  and 
united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  When 
only  twenty-two  he  was  elected  major  of  the  Ninth 
Regiment  of  Illinois  Militia,  and  the  next  year 
served  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  In  1833  he  settled 
at  Carlinville,  and  soon  after  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  of 
the  rebellion,  in  1861,  he  was  elected  colonel  of  the 
Thirty-second  Regiment  of  Illinois  Volunteers,  and 
served  until  1865.  The  next  year  he  was  appointed 
United  States  marshal  for  Southern  Illinois,  and 
held  the  office  until  1870.  He  was  one  of  the  orig- 
inal abolitionists  who  voted  for  Birney,  in  1844. 
Dr.  Logan  has  been  an  active  member  of  the  Church 
for  over  fifty  years,  and  has  filled  most  of  the  offices 
to  which  a  layman  is  eligible. 

ISAAC  LANDIS,  a  local  preacher,  moved  from 
Missouri  to  Indiana,  and  thence  to  Greene  County, 
Illinois,  in  1827,  and  settled  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Carroll  ton.  He  was  elected  to  deacon's  orders 
in  1832,  and  to  elder's  in  1840.  His  house  was  for 
a  long  time  a  preaching-place  on  the  Grafton  Cir- 
cuit. He  was  a  man  of  moderate  ability  as  a 
preacher,  but  of  deep  piety.  He  died  in  1857,  aged 
seventy-nine. 

In  November  of  this  year,  RICHARD  G  A  INKS,  a 
brother-in-law  of  Peter  Oart  wight,'  moved  from 


250  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Kentucky  and  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Pleasant  Plains,  in  Sangamon  County.  He  was 
born  November  8,  1777,  in  Charlotte  County,  Vir- 
ginia, and  died  January  7,  1845.  He  was  a  useful 
and  faithful  local  preacher. 

The  membership  reported  at  the  close  of  the  year 
was  4,41 2  whites,  53  colored,  and  1  Indian,  an  increase 
during  the  year  of  558.  The  largest  increase  was  on 
the  Vermillion  Circuit,  being  197.  Sangamon  Cir- 
cuit had  an  increase  of  125,  and  in  several  other 
charges  there  was  an  increase  of  from  40  to  60  each. 
In  the  Shoal  Creek  and  Cash  River  Circuits  there 
was  a  slight  decrease. 

The  following  brethren  appear  for  the  first  time 
in  connection  with  the  work  in  Illinois : 

ELI  P.  FARMER  was  born  in'  Virginia,  Janu- 
ary 27,  1794.  He  removed  to  Indiana  in  1822, 
and  three  years  afterwards  was  received  on  trial  in 
the  Illinois  Conference  and  appointed  to  Bloomfield. 
In  1826  he  was  sent  to  Vermillion  Circuit.  This 
was  the  only  year  in  which  he  labored  in  Illinois. 
He  continued  in  the  conference,  however,  until 
1832,  when  he  fell  into  the  Indiana  Conference,  in 
which  he  traveled  a  year  and  then  located.  In 
1837  he  was  readmitted,  traveled  two  years  and 
located  again  in  1839.  His  died  at  his  residence 
near  Bloomington,  Indiana,  February  6,  1881.  Mr. 
Farmer  was  a  man  of  marked  peculiarities.  He 
believed  in  muscular  Christianity.  Regarded  as 
one  of  the  strongest  and  most  active  men  in  the 
State,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  use  his  strength  in  the 
maintenance  of  order  at  the  meetings  he  held;  and 


ELI  P.  FARMER.  251 

it  was  not  infrequently  the  case  that  he  would  leave 
the  pulpit  to  administer  personal  chastisement  to 
the  rowdies  who  attempted  to  disturb  the  peace  of 
his  meetings.  Though  of  moderate  education,  and 
not  excelling  as  a  preacher,  he  was  yet  a  man  of 
great  power  in  the  pulpit,  and  many  were  won  to 
Christ  through  his  instrumentality.  He  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  war  of  1812,  and  took  part  in  the  battle 
of  New  Orleans.  When  the  war  of  the  rebellion 
broke  out,  though  he  had  previously  been  a  Demo- 
crat, he  at  once  espoused  the  cause  of  his  country, 
making  many  strong  speeches  in  favor  of  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Union,  and  bitterly  denouncing 
those  with  whom  he  had  formerly  acted.  Though 
then  nearly  seventy  years  of  age,  he  entered  the 
army  as  a  chaplain,  and  not  only  did  his  duty  as 
such  faithfully,  but  refused  to  receive  compensation 
for  his  services.  Indeed,  this  was  one  of  his  pecu- 
liarities. A  writer  in  the  Indianapolis  Journal  says 
of  him :  "  His  profession  was  that  of  the  ministry, 
but  his  means  of  support  were  derived  from  the 
farm.  In  his  ministerial  career  he  introduced  the 
novel  practice  of  giving  the  people  a  free  Gospel ; 
and  in  all  his  experience,  extending  over  a  long 
life,  he  was  never  known  to  ask  any  congregation 
or  Church  for  a  contribution  on  his  own  behalf." 

After  his  location  he  became  an  active  partisan 
politician,  and  represented  his  county  in  the  State 
legislature.  While  there,  he  became  involved  in  a 
quarrel  with  the  speaker  of  the  house,  and  admin- 
istered to  him  a  severe  thrashing.  He  also  studied 
law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  "  He  passed 


252 


METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


through  many  storms  in  his  day,  but  his  sun  came 
to  a  golden  setting.  For  several  years  he  gave 
himself  to  seek  holiness  and  walk  with  God  alone. 
At  the  last  he  rejoiced  greatly,  and  was  eager  to 
depart  and  go  home." ' 

This  was  the  first  year  of  the  itinerant  life  of 
THOMAS  H.  FILES.  He  traveled  in  succession  the 
Mt.  Vernon,  Cash  River,  Golconda,  Wabash,  Mc- 
Leansboro,  Frankfort,  and  Paris  Circuits,  and  in 
1835  was  granted  a  superannuated  relation,  in  which 
he  remained  until  his  death,  in  1849.  His  memoir 
is  not  published  in  the  General  Minutes,  but  Mr. 
Beggs  says  he  was  "  of  great  service  to  the  Church." 

WILLIAM  EVANS  was  also  received  on  trial  this 
year.  He  traveled  only  two  circuits  in  Illinois — 
the  Cash  River  in  1826,  and  the  Golconda  in  1831. 
The  rest  of  his  charges  were  in  Indiana,  and  in 
1832  he  was  transferred  to  the  Indiana  Conference, 
and  located  at  its  first  session. 

RICHARD  HARQ.RAVE  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  born  December  5,  1803.  In  youth  he 
removed  with  his  parents  to  Indiana,  and  when  he 
was  nineteen  he  was  converted  and  joined  the  so- 
called  "  O'Kelly  Christian  Church."  He  remained 
in  it  but  for  a  short  time,  and  then  united  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  he  was 
licensed  to  preach  in  1823.  He  traveled  some 
months  under  the  presiding  elder,  William  Beau- 
champ,  duiiing  the  Summer  of  1824,  and  in  the  Fall 
united  with  the  Illinois  Conference  at  its  first  ses- 
sion and  was  appointed  to  Salem  Circuit.  In  1825 

JEev.  J.  W.  Webb. 


RICHARD  HARGRAVE.  253 

his  appointment,  was  Honey  Creek,  and  in  1826 
Sangarnon.  Here  his  health  failed,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  retire  from  the  work  in  the  Spring,  but 
was  so  far  restored  as  to  receive  an  appointment  at 
the  next  session  of  conference.  This  was  the  only 
year  he  traveled  in  Illinois,  all  the  rest  of  his  itin- 
erant life  being  spent  in  Indiana.  He  belonged 
successively  to  the  Illinois,  Indiana,  North  Indi- 
ana, and  North-west  Indiana  Conferences,  occupy- 
ing many  of  their  most  important  charges.  He  was, 
seventeen  years  in  the  presiding  eldership,  twenty- 
four  years  in  circuits  and  stations,  and  fourteen  on 
the  superannuated  list.  He  died  near  Attica,  Indi- 
ana, June  23,  1879.  Mr.  Hargrave  was  one  of  the 
strongest  preachers  in  the  West.  He  delighted  to 
dwell  on  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible.  "  With  a  voice 
full  of  melody,  and  forceful  enough  for  greater  au- 
diences than  ever  assemble;  with  a  sharp,  clear, 
articulation,  and  a  phraseology  so  unique  as  to 
charm  the  ear  strangely,  he  uttered  great  doctrinal 
sermons,  which  in  other  hands  might  have  been  dry 
and  stale,  but  from  him  possessed  all  the  enchant- 
ment of  tales  of  the  heroic.  This  was  not  all.  He 
drew  argument  and  illustration  from  the  common 
scenes  observed  by  common  sense  men,  and  con- 
vinced the  mind.  Then,  so  rapidly  as  to  startle  the 
sinner,  he  made  him  conscious  of  his  guilt,  and  left 
the  soul  with  a  loving  Savior.  On  many  occasions 
members  fell  around  him  as  if  dead,  and  remained 
so  in  some  cases  for  hours,  coming  to  consciousness 
with  the  song  of  salvation  on  their  lips."2  An  ex- 
2 'Western  Christian  Advocate. 


254  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

hortation  delivered  during  his  year  on  the  Sangamon 
Circuit  was  long  remembered.  Standing  on  the 
roof  of  the  jail  at  Springfield,  he  addressed  the 
thousands  who  had  come  to  witness  an  execution 
in  such  burning  and  eloquent  words  that  twenty 
years  afterwards  the  writer  heard  many  who  listened 
to  it  declare  it  the  most  powerful  address  they  had 
ever  heard  from  human  lips.  Perhaps  the  most 
marked  traits  in  Mr.  Hargravc's  character  were  his 
dcop  reverence  and  strong  trust  in  God,  and  his 
earnest  and  hearty  sympathy  with  suffering  human- 
ity. In  labors  he  was  more  abundant.  Even  when 
superannuated  he  preached  above  two  hundred  ser- 
mons a  year,  and  in  the  last  year  of  his  life,  during 
the  seven  months  in  which  he  was  able  to  get  about, 
he  preached  one  hundred  and  four  times.  He  was, 
during  his  whole  life,  a  great  sufferer  from  disease. 
His  last  illness  of  over  two  months  was  attended 
with  the  most  acute  suffering.  But  over  all  he  tri- 
umphed through  grace,  desiring  to  depart  and  be 
Avith  Christ.  He  was  a  member  of  the  General 
Conferences  of  1848  and  1860. 

JOSEPH  TARKINGTON  was  born  at  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  October  30,  1800.  In  his  twentieth 
year  he  was  converted  at  a  camp-meeting  near 
Bloomington,  Indiana,  and  in  1825  was  received 
into  the  Illinois  Conference  and  appointed  to  Patoka 
Circuit.  For  the  two  following  years  he  traveled 
the  Sangamon  Circuit.  The  remainder  of  his  itin- 
erant life  has  been  spent  in  Indiana.  He  is  still 
living  at  Greensburg,  Indiana,  and  is  a  superannu- 
ated member  of  the  South-east  Indiana  Conference. 


ISAAC  S.  HOUSE.  255 

He  was  presiding  elder  eight  years  and  agent  for 
Asbury  University  two  years.  Pie  has  filled  several 
leading  stations  in  the  conferences  of  which  he  has 
been  a  member. 

ISAAC  S.  HOUSE  was  born  at  Brookfield,  New 
York,  April  7,  1806.  His  parents  were  among  the 
first  Methodists  in  that  section  of  the  country  and 
early  instructed  their  son  in  the  principles  of  our 
holy  religion.  At  the  age  of  twelve  he  became  a  sub- 
ject of  converting  grace  and  united  with  the  Church. 
For  several  years  he  remained  faithful;  but,  having 
removed  to  the  West,  where  he  was  deprived  of 
the  care  of  Christian  friends  and  of  many  of  the 
privileges  of  the  Church  which  he  had  previously 
enjoyed,  he  backslid,  sought  enjoyment  in  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  world,  and  became  very  wicked.  In 
1821,  at  a  camp-meeting  at  Gilham's  camp-ground, 
between  Alton  and  Edwardsville,  he  was  reclaimed, 
and  the  next  year  received  license  to  preach,  and 
united  with  the  Illinois  Conference.  His  first  ap- 
pointment was  the  Mississippi  Circuit,  with  Thomas 
Handle  as  his  senior.  The  next  year  he  was  junior 
preacher  on  the  Sangamon  Circuit ;  and  at  the  con- 
ference of  1828,  after  being  received  into  full  con- 
nection and  ordained  deacon,  his  health  being  poor, 
he  was  placed  on  the  superannuated  list.  At  the 
next  session  he  located.  In  this  relation  he  contin- 
ued for  fifteen  years,  preaching  and  laboring  for  the 
cause  of  Christ  as  his  health  would  permit.  In 
1844  he  was  readmitted  in  the  Providence  Confer- 
ence, and  stationed  at  Fourth  Street,  New  Bedford, 
to  which  he  was  returned  the  next  year.  Then,  his 


256  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

health  again  failing,  he  was  granted  a  superannuated 
relation,  in  which  he  remained  until  his  death,  July 
7,  1847.  "  Brother  House  was  a  good  man,  was 
distinguished  for  his  social  qualities,  and  was  a  kind 
and  affectionate  father  and  husband.  He  often  spoke 
of  his  parents  with  strong  filial  affection,  and  of  the 
gratitude  he  owed  them  for  early  religious  instruc- 
tion. He  was  more  than  an  ordinary  preacher, 
sound  in  doctrine,  fervent,  affectionate,  and  power- 
ful. He  united  many  excellencies  as  a  man,  a  Chris- 
tian, and  a  minister,  and  was  respected  and  beloved 
by  those  who  knew  him.  His  sickness  was  painful 
and  protracted,  but  he  was  patient  and  resigned,  and 
died  in  peace  and  full  assurance  of  a  blissful  im- 
mortality."3 One  of  his  early  colleagues  says,  "He 
was  a  sweet-spirited  young  man,  who  labored  ear- 
nestly and  was  much  beloved." 
8  General  Minutes. 


CONFERENCE  OF  1827.  257 


iv. 

1827. 

WABASII  DISTRICT— Charles  Holliday,  P.  E. 
Vermillion — John  Fox. 
Wobash — James  Hadley. 
ML  Vernon— Thomas  H.  Files. 
Ml.  CVmne/— Aaron  Wood. 
Casli  River — Samuel  C.  Cooper. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT — Peter  Cartwright,  P.  E. 
Illinois — Samuel  H.  Thompson,  John  Hogan. 
Kaskaskia — William  Echols. 
Shoal  Creek — John  Kerns. 
Sangamon — Joseph  Tarkington,  Isaac  S.  House. 
Peoria — Smith  L.  Robinson. 
Apple  Creek — Isaac  Scarritt,  John  T.  Johnson. 
Alias — Samuel  Bogart. 

Pottaivattomie  Mission  at  Salem — John  Dew,  super- 
intendent and  collector  for  the  mission. 
Jesse  Walker,  missionary. 

THE  session  of  1827  was  held  at  Mt.  Carmel, 
Illinois,  in  an  upper  room  of  the  house  of  T. 
S.  Hinde,  beginning  on  Thursday,  September  20th, 
and  closing  0:1  the  following  Wednesday.  Bishop 
Roberts  presided,  and  Calvin  W.  Ruter  was  elected 
secretary.  The  attendance  was  much  larger  than  at 
any  previous  session,  twenty-seven  answering  to 
their  names  at  the  first  calling  of  the  roll.  Then 
the  probationers  of  the  first  year  did  not  attend 

conference,  but  remained  on  their  circuits. 
22 


258  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

The  session  was  an  important  one  on  account  of 
the  amount  and  variety  of  the  business  transacted. 

Eleven  persons  were  received  on  trial ;  viz., 
John  Hardy,  Constant  B.  Jones,  Enoch  G.  "Wood, 
Asahel  L.  Risley,  Benjamin  Stephenson,  Samuel 
Bogart,  John  Kerns,  William  Mavity,  William  Ech- 
ols,  Samuel  C.  Cooper,  James  McKean. 

John  Fox,  Isaac  Scarritt,  and  Charles  Slocumb 
were  readmitted. 

Asa  D.  West,  Joseph  Foulks,  George  Handle, 
and  William  Medford  were  granted  a  location. 

William  See  was  discontinued.  Two  had  died, 
William  Cravens,  and  John  Cord. 

Three  local  deacons  were  elected  to  elder's  orders; 
viz.,  Robert  Ray,  Hezekiah  Holland,  and  Ebenezcr 
Jones. 

And  eight  local  preachers  were  elected  to  dea- 
con's order.  Charles  W.  Morrow,  Elijah  McDan- 
iel,  Alfred  J.  Colton,  Daniel  Dillings,  John  Giv- 
ens,  Thornton  Peeples,  William  Mcldrum,  Lorenzo 
Edwards. 

The  rule  adopted  by  the  conference  at  its  session 
in  1825,  requiring  of  located  preachers  applying 
for  readmission  into  the  traveling  connection  a  rec- 
ommendation from  the  quarterly  conference,  was 
rescinded. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  about  the 
ignorance  of  the  early  Methodist  preachers,  their 
lack  of  culture,  and  general  inferiority  in  scholastic 
attainments  to  the  preachers  of  the  present  day. 
The  following  course  of  reading  and  study,  to  be 
pursued  by  the  candidates  for  the  ministry,  which 


COURSE  OF  STUDY.  259 

was  presented  by  Bishop  Roberts  and  ordered  to  be 
spread  on  the  conference  journal,  shows  that  onr 
fathers  were  not  inattentive  to  the  work  of  minis- 
terial education.  And  while  our  modern  caurses 
of  study  may  be  more  extensive  than  this,  running 
through  a  longer  period  and  embracing  a  wider 
range,  with  vastly  improved  text-books,  the  master- 
ing of  this  course  by  a  candidate  would  secure  for 
him  a  qualification  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  not 
greatly  inferior  to  that  demanded  of  candidates  at 
the  present  day. 

"  The  Holy  Ghost  saith :  '  Study  to  show  thy- 
self approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that  nccdeth 
not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of 
truth.  Hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  words  which 
thou  hast  heard  from  me,  in  faith  and  love  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus.  Give  attendance  to  reading,  to 
exhortation,  to  doctrine.' 

"  It  is  therefore  recommended  to  candidates  for 
the  ministry  to  study  and  make  themselves  ac- 
quainted with  the  following  important  points  of 
doctrine:  The  general  depravity  and  corruption  of 
the  human  heart,  redemption  by  Christ,  repentance 
toward  God,  justification  by  faith,  the  direct  witness 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  holiness  of  heart  and  life,  in- 
cluding regeneration  and  sanetification,  the  divinity 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  perseverance  of  those 
who  have  been  justified,  baptism,  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  and  future  rewards  and  punishments. 

"  It  is  recommended  to  them  to  study  the  nature 
2nd  principles  of  Church  government,  especially 
our  own  ;  the  philosophy  or  grammar  of  the  En- 


260  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

glish  language,  geography,  ancient  history,  ecclesi- 
astical history,  moral  and  natural  philosophy,  and 
logic. 

"  To  aid  the  student  in  the  acquisition  of  these 
important  branches  of  knowledge,  the  reading  of 
the  following  books,  or  as  many  of  them  as  can  be 
obtained,  is  recommended:  The  Holy  Scriptures, 
Wesley's  Notes,  Benson's,  Coke's,  and  Clarke's  Com- 
mentaries, Wesley's  Sermons,  Answer  to  Taylor, 
Saints'  Rest,  Benson's  Sermons,  Fletcher's  Checks 
and  Appeal,  Portrait  of  St.  Paul,  Watson's  Theo- 
logical Institutes,  Wood's  or  Martindale's  Diction- 
ary, the  Methodist  Discipline,  Murray's  Grammar, 
Morse's  Geography,  Rollin's  Ancient  History,  Mos- 
heim's  Ecclesiastical  History,  Locke  on  the  Under- 
standing, Palcy's  Philosophy,  Duncan's  or  Watts' 
Logic,  the  Methodist  Magazine" 

The  committee  appointed  at  the  last  session  to 
draft  rules  for  the  government  of  the  conference 
presented  a  report,  which,  after  amendment,  was 
adopted.  The  rules,  twelve  in  number,  are  those 
by  which  deliberative  bodies  are  usually  governed. 
The  eleventh  and  twelfth,  however,  are  especially 
appropriate  to  a  body  of  Christian  ministers  :  "  Every 
member  of  this  conference,  in  his  debates,  shall 
have  due  regard  to  the  feelings  of  his  brethren,  and 
avoid  all  personality."  "  No  member  shall  prefer  a 
complaint  against  another  member  of  this  confer- 
ence, unless  he  has  spoken  to  him  on  the  subject 
first  out  of  conference." 

At  this  session  the  question  of  a  conference  sem- 
inary was  introduced.  A  petition  on  the  subject 


INDIAN  MISSION.  261 

was  presented  by  Peter  Cartwright  from  certain  cit- 
izens of  Greene  County,  which  was  referred  to  a 
committee,  with  instructions  to  report  at  this  ses- 
sion. Their  report,  which  was  adopted,  recom- 
mended the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  five  to 
obtain  all  the  information  they  could  on  the  subject 
during  the  ensuing  year,  and  report  the  result  of 
their  inquiries  to  the  next  conference.  And  John 
Strange,  James  Armstrong,  Charles  Holliday,  Peter 
Cartwright,  and  William  Shanks  were  appointed 
that  committee. 

The  Pottawattomie  Mission  at  Salem,  on  Fox 
River,  occupied  much  of  the  attention  of  the  con- 
ference. When  the  superintendent  and  missionary 
made  their  reports,  a  committee  of  five  was  ap- 
pointed to  take  into  consideration  the  state  of  the 
mission,  and  the  expediency  of  continuing  it.  That 
committee  reported  as  follows:  "At  the  Illinois 
Conference  held  in  Charleston,  1825,  an  allowance 
of  one  thousand  dollars  was  made  for  the  support 
of  the  mission,  and  put  into  the  hands  of  the  mis- 
sionary. From  our  recollection  of  the  missionary 
report  to  the  conference  of  1826,  that  money  was 
laid  out  for  the  mission,  and  a  debt  contracted  of 
$1,208.80;  cash  on  hand  to  meet  the  debt,  $150; 
which  leaves  the  .mission  in  debt,  $1,058.80.  At 
the  conference  of  1826  an  allowance  was  made  for 
the  support  of  the  mission  of  one  thousand  dollars, 
and  put  in  the  hands  of  the  superintendent  of  the 
mission.  From' the  report  to  this  conference  it  ap- 
pears that  the  money  has  been  laid  out  for  the  mis- 
sion. No  debts  have  been  contracted  the  past  year. 


262  MET  HOD  KM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

"  According  to  the  report  to  this  conference,  the 
mission  property  amounts  to  $303.25.  The  crop, 
as  valued  in  the  report,  amounts  to  $502.  The 
property  offered  in  the  report,  which  we  advise  the 
conference  to  accept  and  make  mission  property, 
amounts  to  $250.  If  the  conference  accept  this 
property,  then  the  property  and  crop  belonging  to 
the  mission  will  amount  to  $1,055.25. 

"  But  little  has  been  effected,  as  yet,  by  the  mis- 
sion when  compared  to  the  expense,  labor,  and  suf- 
ferings of  the  missionary  and  his  family ;  but,  when 
we  consider  what  it  has  cost,  and,the  probability 
of  its  being  less  expensive  in  future,  we  can  not 
advise  its  discontinuance  until  further  trial  is 
given  it. 

"  As  it  respects  the  debt  now  against  the  mis- 
sion, it  is  our  opinion  that  a  man  had  better  be 
appointed,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  make  collec- 
tions in  the  bounds  of  the  conference  and  elsewhere 
to  pay  that  debt."  The  person  appointed  in  ac- 
cordance with  this  report  to  make  collections  for 
the  mission,  John  Dew,  was  styled  the  superintend- 
ent, and  the  collections  made  during  the  past  year, 
in  money  and  property,  were  ordered  to  be  placed 
in  his  hands. 

A  case  of  supposed  heresy  was  before  the  confer- 
ence, and  excited  considerable  interest.  When  the 
name  of  James  Scott,  an  elder,  was  called,  objections 
were  made  to  the  passage  of  his  character,  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  advanced  certain  ideas  believed 
to  be  heterodox.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  wait 
on  Brother  Scott  and  obtain  his  views  on  certain 


HERESY.  263 

doctrines  by  him  advanced,  and  report  to  the  confer- 
ence. When  two  days  afterwards,  the  committee 
presented  their  report,  after  considerable  discussion 
the  further  consideration  of  it  was  postponed  until 
the  next  annual  session,  the  conference  ordering 
that  he  be  admonished  by  the  president  not  to  dis- 
seminate his  peculiar  views  on  the  points  of  doctrine 
referred  to  in  the  report  of  the  committee.  His 
character  was  then  passed.  Dr.  Aaron  Wood  gives 
the  following  statement  of  the  case:  "At  the  re- 
bound from  the  Augustinian  doctrine  and  Edward- 
can  philosophy  which  affected  the  three  churches  in 
the  West,  viz. :  Methodist,  Baptist,  and  Presbyterian, 
the  three  errors  of  the  ancient  Church  were  broached 
afresh  in  Kentucky,  and  many  of  the  members  and 
some  preachers  were  Pelagians,  Arians,  or  Socinians, 
and  though  most  of  them  went  with  the  New  Lights, 
yet  some  remained  with  the  Methodists.  Holliday, 
Cartwright,  S.  H.  Thompson,  and  George  Locke 
had  all  contended  with  these  errors  in  Kentucky, 
and  knew  the  men.  One  of  them  was  the  father- 
in-law,  and  three  others  the  friends,  of  Scott,  loca- 
ted and  living  in  Indiana.  Scott  \vas  arrested  on 
certain  expressions  in  a  sermon  preached  at  the  con- 
ference, and  was  called  before  a  committee.  Scott 
was  a  hypercritical,  sharp  Jerseyman,  who,  instead 
of  a  frank  statement  of  his  views,  did  what  he  could 
to  puzzle  the  committee,  and  they  reported  as  pun- 
ishment that  he  be  kept  from  charge  of  a  circuit, 
which  was  indefinitely  postponed.  At  the  next  con- 
ference, I  remember  that  when,  on  the  motion  of 
his  presiding  elder,  he  was  asked  "  Do  you  believe 


264  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

in  the  generation,  or  t  reduction,  or  impartation  of 
depravity?"  he  replied,  "I  do  n't  believe  either,  for 
it  is  a  matter  of  opinion,  and  can  not  be  faith,  as 
there  is  no  testimony." 

Mr.  Scott,  after  traveling  a  number  of  years  in 
the  conferences  in  Indiana,  was  finally  deposed  from 
the  ministry  in  1860. 

The  conference  at  this  session  elected  its  first 
delegates  to  the  General  Conference  to  meet  the 
next  year.  They  were  John  Strange,  Peter  Cart- 
wright,  James  Armstrong,  Charles  Holliday,  Samuel 
H.  Thompson,  and  John  Dew. 

A  resolution  was  adopted,  which,  if  carried  out, 
would  have  greatly  aided  the  historian  of  the  Illi- 
nois Conference ;  but,  like  too  many  conference  res- 
olutions, it  was  adopted,  and  then  forgotten.  It 
was  a  request  that  each  preacher  belonging  to  the 
conference  present  in  writing  to  the  next  conference 
a  succinct  account  of  the  time  and  place  of  his  birth, 
the  most  important  incidents  of  his  life,  when  and 
by  what  means  he  was  brought  to  the  knowledge 
of  salvation,  with  any  other  important  matter  that 
may  concern  him,  and  that  the  same  be  kept  on  file 
among  the  papers  of  the  conference. 

This  was  a  year  of  prosperity.  All  the  charges 
in  Illinois,  save  two,  report  an  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  members.  The  Wabash,  Mt.  Vernon,  Illi- 
nois, Shoal  Creek,  Mississippi,  and  Atlas  Circuits, 
each  reported  an  increase  of  over  one  hundred,  the 
increase  for  the  State  being  920,  or  more  than  twen- 
ty-five per  cent.  The  entire  membership  was  5,335 
whites  and  fifty-two  colored. 


NEW  SOCIETIES  FORMED.  265 

Several  interesting  camp-meetings  were  held  this 
year;  among  them  were  two  on  the  Sangamon  Cir- 
cuit, one  east  of  Springfield,  and  the  other  at  Hus- 
sey's,  on  Fancy  Creek.  This  was  a  very  successful 
meeting,  and  many  were  born  into  the  kingdom. 
A  meeting  described  by  Mr.  Beggs  was  held  on 
Farm  Creek,  on  the  Peoria  Circuit,  of  which  S.  L. 
Robinson  was  preacher  in  charge,  Jesse  Walker  and 
William  See  assisted  at  the  meeting,  which  was  con- 
ducted by  the  presiding  elder.  Governor  Edwards, 
the  first  governor  of  the  State,  was  also  present. 
They  had  a  gracious  time,  yet  even  in  that  early 
day  they  were  not  free  from  disturbance.  A  cer- 
tain individual  was  sent  after  whisky,  and  who,  in 
going  for  it,  had  to  pass  the  camp-ground.  He 
stopped  to  hear  the  presiding  elder's  sermon.  After 
its  close  a  collection  was  taken  up,  and  the  money 
designed  for  the  whisky  (fifty  cents),  was  thrown 
into  the  hat.  When  he  returned,  and  was  asked 
where  his  money  was  gone  to,  he  replied,  "  O, 
I  thought  the  preachers  needed  it  more  than  you 
did  the  whisky." 

Some  new  societies  were  formed  this  year.  Rev. 
J.  Mayo,  a  local  preacher,  preached  the  first  sermon 
in  Brouillett  Township,  Edgar  County,  this  year. 
The  first  society  was  also  formed  in  Pekin  by  Smith 
L.  Robinson.  It  consisted  of  eight  or  ten  members. 
A  class  was  also  organized  on  Robinson's  Creek,  in 
Shelby  County,  by  Thomas  Randle,  who  traveled 
the  Shoal  Creek  Circuit.  Preaching  was  introduced 
and  societies  formed  at  Lawrence ville  and  Palestine, 
on  the  Mt.  Curmel  Circuit.  At  the  former  of  these 


266  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

places  was  a  great  revival.  Under  the  labors  of 
John  Fox  on  the  Vermillion  Circuit,  there  was  a 
good  work  of  grace. 

Among  the  removals  to  the  State  and  accessions 
to  the  Church  this  year  was  ABEL  L.  WILLIAMS, 
who  settled  in  Vermillion  County.  He  was  a  native 
of  North  Carolina,  and  was  born  January  30,  1786. 
When  a  child,  he  moved  with  his  parents  to  Ten- 
nessee. In  1811,  with  his  wife,  he  united  with 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  after  coming 
to  their  new  home  in  Illinois,  such  were  his  faith 
and  zeal,  that  he  took  his  ax,  went  to  the  timber, 
and  upon  his  own  responsibility,  began  cutting  the 
timber  for  the  erection  of  a  church.  Witnessing 
his  determination,  his  neighbors  came  to  his  assist- 
ance, and  soon  the  old  Lebanon  Church  took  the 
place  of  the  private  house  as  a  place  of  worship. 
This  became  and  was  for  many  years  a  center  of 
Methodism  in  Eastern  Illinois.  He  became  super- 
intendent of  the  Sunday-school,  and  served  as  such 
for  twenty -five  years.  While  listening  to  the  fire- 
side conversation  of  the  old  preachers  in  his  boy- 
hood home,  a  desire  for  the  attainment  of  knowl- 
edge was  excited,  and  though  unable  to  reach  a 
collegiate  or  even  academic  education,  yet  such  wTas 
his  thirst  for  knowledge,  that,  availing  himself  of 
the  opportunities  in  his  reach,  he  became  a  profi- 
cient in  ancient  and  modern  history,  and  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  literature  of  the  Church.  He  had 
a  well-selected  library,  embracing  the  complete 
works  of  Wesley,  Fletcher,  Watson,  and  Clarke, 
besides  many  works  on  philosophy  and  science.  He 


JOHN  FOX.  267 

was  much  interested  in  the  educational  interests  of 
the  Church.  To  the  first  conference  academy  built 
in  Eastern  Illinois,  the  Georgetown,  he  was  the 
most  liberal  contributor,  and  of  all  the  institutions 
of  the  Church  he  was  a  liberal  supporter.  He  died 
full  of  years  at  the  house  of  his  son,  Rev.  James 
Williams,  near  Newman,  Douglas  County,  February 
15,  1881,  in  his  ninety-sixth  year.1 

REV.  MILES  HART,  a  local  preacher  from  Ken- 
tucky, settled  this  year  at  Wabash  Point,  in  Coles 
County.  He  was  the  first  permanent  settler  there. 
Finding  a  cabin  that  had  been  erected  by  a  Mr. 
Sawyer,  who,  after  building  it,  had  gone  after  his 
family,  Mr.  Hart  took  possession  of  it,  and,  by  the 
time  the  owner  returned  with  his  household,  had 
put  up  one  for  himself,  into  which  he  removed. 
He  was  a  good  preacher,  rather  above  the  average, 
very  pleasant  and  smooth  in  his  address,  even  and 
uniform  in  his  whole  course,  and  so  agreeable  in  his 
manners  that  he  acquired  the  sobriquet  of  "  Old 
Jolly."  He  was  about  six  feet  high  and  very  slen- 
der. He  died  highly  respected  about  twenty  years  ago. 

The  plan  of  the  work  remained  the  same  as  it 
had  been  the  year  before,  the  only  change  being  the 
substitution  of  Apple  Creek  for  Mississippi  as  the 
name  of  one  of  the  circuits. 

Ten  new  preachers  labored  this  year  in  Illinois. 

JOHN  Fox  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  born  in 
1774.  In  1809  he  united  with  the  Philadelphia 
Conference,  and  traveled  in  it  until  1820,  when  he 
located.  He  then  moved  to  Illinois,  and  settled  on 

'  Rev.  W.  S.  Calhoun. 


268  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

a  farm  a  few  miles  from  Palestine.  Here  he  accu- 
mulated a  handsome  property.  In  1827  he  was  re- 
admitted in  the  Illinois  Conference,  and  traveled  in 
succession  the  Vermillion,  Mt.  Vernon,  AVabash,  Mt. 
Carmel;  Paris,  Eugene,  Shawneetown,  Wabash,  Eu- 
gene, Mt.  Carmel,  Maysville,  Charleston,  Carlisle, 
McLeansboro,  Richland,  Crooked  Creek,  and  Ur- 
bana  Circuits.  He  died  at  Homer,  Champaign 
County,  Illinois,  August  26,  1846.  His  memoir 
says  of  him :  "As  a  man,  Brother  Fox  was  a  pattern 
of  neatness  and  industry ;  as  a  Christian,  uniform 
and  consistent;  as  a  preacher,  plain,  practical,  and 
pointed;  and  as  a  pastor,  faithful  and  affectionate." 
One  of  his  parishioners  on  the  Vermillion  Circuit 
describes  him  as  "  a  nice  man  and  a  good  singer. 
He  was  a  rigid  disciplinarian,  excluding  from  the 
Church  many  of  those  who  had  been  received  by 
his  predecessor." 2  As  a  preacher  he  was  moderate, 
and  was  accustomed  to  relate  many  anecdotes  in  his 
preaching.  One  who  listened  to  him  heard  him 
tell  thirty -two  anecdotes  in  one  sermon.  He  had  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  Methodism  as  a  system  of 
Church  polity,  and  insisted  strongly  upon  the  ob- 
servance of  all  its  peculiarities.  Mr.  Beggs  speaks 
of  "  John  Fox,  of  precious  memory — neat  in  person 
and  attire,  correct  in  his  preaching,  diligent  in  pas- 
toral visitation,  strict  in  administration  of  discipline, 
and  powerful  in  prayer — his  labors  never  failing  to 
result  in  the  salvation  of  souls."  He  died  in  holy 
triumph.  The  last  words  he  uttered,  just  as  the 
soul  left  the  body,  were  "  Jesus,  Jesus." 
2  Col.  Mayo. 


AARON  WOOD.  269 

AARON  WOOD  was  born  in  Pendleton  County, 
Virginia,  October  15,  1802.  He  was  the  first-born 
of  praying  parents.  His  father's  house  was  occa- 
sionally visited  by  Bishop  Asbury,  whose  horse 
Aaron  would  care  for,  and  who  always  spoke  to  the 
boy  about  his  soul,  urging  him  to  give  himself  to 
the  Savior,  that  he  might  grow  up  to  be  a  good 
and  useful  man.  In  1815  he  was  converted,  and 
in  1822  united  with  the  Ohio  Conference,  in  which 
he  traveled  two  years,  and  then  fell  into  the  Illinois 
Conference,  of  which  he  remained  a  member  until 
1831,  when  he  located.  His  only  appointment  in 
Illinois  was  Mt.  Carmel  Circuit,  which  he  traveled 
two  years.  They  were  years  of  great  spiritual  pros- 
perity. In  the  Fall  of  1827  he  had  married  the 
daughter  of  Rev.  William  Beauchamp,  with  whom 
he  lived  until  1838  when  she  died.  The  years  in 
which  he  was  located  he  spent  in  Mt.  Carmel,  where 
he  engaged  in  teaching  school,  laboring  faithfully 
meanwhile  as  a  local  preacher.  In  1834  he  was  re- 
admitted in  the  Indiana  Conference,  and  has  been 
connected  ever  since  with  the  conferences  in  that 
State,  being  now  (1883)  an  honored  member  of  the 
North-west  Indiana  Conference.  During  his  itin- 
erant life  he  has  spent  thirteen  years  on  districts, 
thirteen  years  in  agencies  for  Asbury  University, 
the  American  Bible  Society,  and  the  Preachers'  Aid 
Society,  six  years  as  chaplain  to  the  Penitentiary  and 
Orphans'  Home,  and  twenty-four  years  on  circuits 
and  stations.  He  was  a  member  of  the  General 
Conferences  of  1840,  1844,  1864,  1868,  and  1876. 
Mr.  Beggs  says  of  him,  "A.  Wood,  D.  D.,  and  my- 


270  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

self  were  both  young  men  when  we  became  ac- 
quainted. He  bid  fair,  at  an  early  age,  to  become 
a  useful  man.  He  had  a  sound  mind,  a  most  felic- 
itous elocution,  and  a  zeal  without  bound.  He 
preached  always  with  all  his  power,  frequently  be- 
coming so  exhausted  as  to  fall  helpless  into  the  arms 
of  those  near  him."  "  The  fields  of  his  labor  have 
been  as  wide  as  his  eventful  experience,  for  he  be- 
gan his  ministry  in  the  days  when  a  circuit  was  as 
large  as  a  modern  conference,  a  district  as  extensive 
as  a  State,  and  a  conference  was  bounded  almost 
alone  by  the  possibility  of  the  itinerant's  return  in 
time  for  the  next  session.  These  fields  embraced 
Western  Ohio,  all  of  Indiana,  Eastern  Illinois,  and 
Southern  Michigan.  All  this  labor  has  been  unre- 
lieved by  one  hour  of  superannuation,  and  all  his 
life  untarnished  by  a  moment  of  moral  reproach."3 

SAMUEL  C.  COOPER  traveled  two  circuits  in  Illi- 
nois, the  Cash  River  this  year,  and  the  Jonesboro, 
a  part  of  the  same  circuit,  two  years  afterwards. 
He  was  born  of  Methodist  parents  in  the  city  of  Bal- 
timore, May  17,  1799.  In  1818  he  was  converted 
in  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  was  soon  after  licensed 
to  exhort.  He  felt  that  God  had  called  him  to 
preach,  but  resisted  the  impression  and  engaged  in 
worldly  business.  He  prospered  for  a  time,  but  the 
hand  of  God  was  then  laid  upon  him — his  wife  died, 
he  was  compelled  to  close  his  business,  and  at  length, 
after  a  severe  mental  conflict,  he  yielded  to  his  con- 
victions of  duty.  After  serving  as  a  supply  on  the 
Yincennes  Circuit,  he  was  received  in  the  Illinois 

3  Dr.  A.  Edwards. 


JOHN  HOGAN.  271 

Conference  in  1827,  but  all  his  itinerant  life,  with 
the  exceptions  above  named,  was  spent  in  Indiana. 
He  died,  a  member  of  the  North  Indiana  Confer- 
ence, July  19,  1856.  He  was  eleven  years  on  dis- 
tricts, seven  years  agent  for  Asbury  University,  one 
year  agent  for  the  Fort  Wayne  Female  College,  and 
ten  years  in  circuits  and  stations.  He  was  twice  a 
member  of  the  General  Conference,  and  performed 
his  last  service  for  the  Church  at  its  session  in  In- 
dianapolis a  few  weeks  before  his  death.  In  his 
early  ministry  he  experienced  much  of  the  hard- 
ships and  privations  of  the  itinerancy.  During  his 
first  year  in  the  conference,  on  Cash  River  Circuit, 
he  received  but  fifteen  dollars  in  money  for  his 
services,  and  of  that  five  dollars  was  given  by  one 
man.  "  He  was  a  good  preacher,  always  systematic 
and  clear.  He  had  great  business  capacities  and 
was  a  safe  counselor  to  his  younger  brethren."4 

The  life  of  JOHX  HOGAN  belongs  to  civil  rather 
than  ecclesiastical  history.  He  traveled  only  four 
years  as  a  preacher,  and  then  engaged  in  secular 
business.  He  came  to  the  Illinois  Conference  with 
a  recommendation  from  the  quarterly  conference  of 
Baltimore  city  station,  and  was  received  at  the  ses- 
sion of  1826  and  appointed  to  Salem  Circuit,  and 
in  1829  transferred  to  the  Missouri  Conference  and 
stationed  in  St.  Louis.  At  the  close  of  the  year  he 
located.  He  settled  at  first  in  Alton,  and  engaged 
actively  in  politics.  In  1836  and  1837  he  repre- 
sented his  county  in  the  State  Legislature.  Mr. 
Under  says  of  him  that  he  was  a  fluent  and  inter- 
4  General  Minutes. 


272  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

esting  speaker.  In  1838  ho  was  a  candidate  for 
Congress  in  opposition  to  Governor  John  Reynolds, 
and  was  defeated.  He  soon  after  removed  to  St. 
Louis,  where  he  is  still  (1883)  living.  Whilst  in 
the  itinerancy  he  was  an  effective,  useful,  and  pop- 
ular preacher. 

Of  WILLIAM  ECHOLS  we  know  but  little.  From 
the  journal  of  conference  and  General  Minutes  we 
learn  that  he  was  received  on  trial  in  1827,  ap- 
pointed to  the  Kaskaskia  Circuit,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  year  Avas  discontinued  at  his  own  request. 
One  who  knew  him  well  says,  "He  was  a  young 
man  of  a  good  deal  of  vivacity  and  a  fair  preacher. 
He  was  gentlemanly  in  his  manners,  and  had  been 
accustomed  to  good  society."  5 

JOHN  KERNS  is  now  (1883),  and  has  been  for 
the  last  ten  years,  a  superannuate  of  the  Minnesota 
Conference.  After  his  year  on  Shoal  Creek  Circuit 
he  traveled  in  Indiana  until  1853,  when  he  was 
transferred  to  the  Wisconsin  Conference,  and  in 
1856  fell  into  the  Minnesota  Conference.  He 
served  several  years  in  the  presiding  eldership, 
and  has  filled  many  of  the  most  important  circuits 
and  stations  in  the  conferences  to  which  he  has 
belonged. 

SMITH  L.  ROBINSON  was  born  in  the  State 
of  Kentucky,  in  1806.  His  parents  were  Presby- 
terians. While  he  was  a  child  they  emigrated  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  Shaw- 
neetown.  In  his  nineteenth  year  he  was  powerfully 
converted  at  a  camp-meeting  in  Madison  County, 
2  Dr.  John  Logan. 


IK  A  AC  SCARRITT.  273 

at  which  Isaac  S.  House  and  Stith  M.  Otwell  were 
also  converted.  His  conversion  is  thus  described 
by  Rev.  N.  P.  Heath  :  "  He  had  been  at  the  altar 
as  a  seeker  of  religion,  and  was  apparently  in  great 
agony  of  mind.  All  at  once  he  became  perfectly 
calm,  and  remained  in  that  condition  for  about  an 
hour  and  a  half,  lying  on  his  back  and  not  moving  a 
muscle.  His  eyes  were  closed,  and  he  was  seemingly 
unconscious.  Suddenly  he  sprang  to  his  feet,  caught 
hold  of  a  small  tree,  and  sprang  up  it  about  ten  feet, 
crying  in  a  loud  voice,  ' Hello,  Jesus!'  Then  he 
fell  back  in  the  altar,  where  he  lay  some  time,  ap- 
parently dead,  and  as  cold  as  a  corpse.  Finally  he 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  praised  God  for  pardoning 
mercy."  He  was  received  in  the  Illinois  Confer- 
ence in  1826,  and  assigned  to  the  Paoli  Circuit,  in 
Indiana.  He  then  traveled  in  succession  the  Peoria, 
Kaskaskia,  Sangamon,  Galena,  and  Lebanon  Cir- 
cuits. In  1833  he  was  agent  for  the  newly  estab- 
lished Lebanon  Seminary.  The  next  year  he  was 
in  the  Jacksonville  Station,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
year  was  transferred  to  the  Indiana  Conference,  and 
stationed  at  Terre  Haute.  At  the  session  of  1836, 
being  then  sick,  he  was  placed  on  the  superannuated 
list,  and  died  a  few  days  after  the  close  of  the 
session. 

ISAAC  SCARRITT  was  born  in  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut, in  1775.  After  he  reached  the  age  of 
manhood,  he  was  alone,  engaged  in  his  work,  when 
there  came  upon  him  an  overwhelming  sense  of  sin 
and  guilt  before  God.  He  knew  nothing  of  con- 
version as-  now  taught  and  understood,  but  with  a 


274  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

depth  of  sorrow  and  anguish  which  almost  crushed 
him,  he  dropped  upon  his  knees,  and  immediately 
his  sorrow  was  gone,  and  joy  and  peace  filled  his 
whole  soul.  His  love  to  God  was  such  as  he  could 
not  express,  and  he  praised  him  constantly  as  he 
went  on  with  the  work  of  the  day  whero  he  was 
then  engaged.  He  was  alone  in  the  woods,  and  his 
business  detained  him  there  for  several  days.  Dur- 
ing all  this  time  he  was  happy,  and  praise  to  God 
was  the  abiding  sentiment  of  his  heart.  He  had 
heard  a  Baptist  preacher  several  times,  and  although 
he  could  not  recollect  any  thing  by  way  of  impres- 
sion made  on  his  mind  before  this  great  change  was 
wrought,  yet  now  some  things  he  had  heard  came  to 
his  remembrance,  and  he  began  to  think  this  was  the 
new  heart  he  had  heard  about;  and,  feeling  a  love 
for  the  preacher  he  had  never  felt  before,  and  for 
those  who  were  members  of  his  Church,  he  resolved 
to  see  and  converse  with  the  preacher,  and,  if 
worthy,  to  offer  himself  to  the  Church.  But,  after 
a  walk  of  ten  miles,  he  failed  to  meet  him,  and 
shortly  after  he  met  with  Rev.  E.  R.  Sabin,  a 
Methodist  preacher  and  presiding  elder.  He  heard 
him  preach,  and  the  doctrine  and  spirit  of  the  ser- 
mon were  in  such  complete  harmony  with  his  views 
and  feelings  at  the  time,  that  he  invited  him  to  his 
father's  house.  They  conversed  together,  and  as  a 
result  which  shortly  followed,  he  united  with  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  after  a  hasty  preparation  he 
accompanied  him  on  his  district,  and  under  his 
instructions  and  by  his  advice  began  to  preach  the 
Gospel.  He  was  received  on  trial  in  the  New 


CIT A  RA  CTER IXTIC8.  275 

England  Conference,  in  1807,  and  appointed  to 
Needham,  the  next  year  to  Durham,  and  in  1809 
to  Portsmouth.  His  health  having  failed,  he  located. 
In  1818  he  removed  to  Edwardsville,  Illinois,  and 
nine  years  afterwards  he  was  readmitted  in  the  Illi- 
nois Conference,  and  appointed  to  Apple  Creek. 
In  1828  he  was  appointed  missionary  to  the  Potta- 
wattomies,  on  Fox  River;  in  1829  he  was  sent  to 
the  Kaskaskia  Circuit,  and  in  1830  to  Fort  Clark. 
At  the  close  of  the  year  he  located  and  settled  on 
the  Dupage,  in  Will  County.  In  1860  he  was  re- 
admitted in  the  Rock  River  Conference  and  placed 
on  the  superannuated  list;  and,  on  the  15th  of  May 
following,  at  the  residence  of  his  son-in-law,  at 
Joliet,  he  closed  his  life  with  unwavering  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and  a  firm  hope  of  a  glorious  immor- 
tality. He  was  courageous  in  difficulties,  patient 
under  suffering,  strong  in  faith.  He  cheerfully  per- 
formed every  duty  required  of  him  to  the  full  extent 
of  his  ability.  He  was  sound  in  doctrine,  pure  in 
motive,  and  correct  in  life,  and  possessed  the  confi- 
dence of  all  who  knew  him/'  Mr.  Heath,  who  knew 
him  well,  says  of  him  :  "  He  was  a  real,  live  Yan- 
kee, sharp,  far-seeing,  and  when  he  spoke  it  was 
evident  that  he  had  something  to  say.  He  was  a 
strong  and  smooth  preacher,  easy  in  manner  and 
forcible  in  style,  very  logical  and  convincing  in 
argument,  often  completely  overwhelming  his  oppo- 
nents, and  yet  using  so  keen  a  sword  that  they 
would  hardly  be  conscious  of  the  wound  until  they 
attempted  to  defend  themselves,  when  they  would 
6  General  Minutes. 


276  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

discover  that  they  were  mortally  wounded.  He 
was  particularly  strong  on  the  Calvinistic  contro- 
versy." 

JOHN  T.  JOHNSON  was  received  on  trial  in  the 
Illinois  Conference  in  1826,  and  appointed  to  the 
Whitewater  Circuit.  In  1827  he  was  junior  preacher 
on  the  Apple  Creek  Circuit  with  Isaac  Scarritt,  and 
the  three  following  years  he  traveled  in  Indiana. 
In  1832  he  fell  into  the  Indiana  Conference,  in 
which  he  remained  until  1836,  when  he  located. 
Twelve  years  afterwards  he  was  readmitted  in  the 
Illinois  Conference,  and  traveled  in  succession  Mc- 
Leansboro,  Wabash,  Palestine,  and  Lawrenceville 
Circuits.  In  1852  he  fell  into  the  Southern  Illinois 
Conference,  and  filled  the  Olney,  Mt.  Carmel,  Ben- 
ton,  Richview,  Tamaroa,  Spring  Garden,  and  Hick- 
ory Hill  Circuits  until  1862,  when  he  again  located. 
He  was  readmitted  in  1871,  and  appointed  to  Ram- 
sey, but  at  the  close  of  the  year  was  granted  a  su- 
perannuated relation,  in  which  he  still  continues. 
He  resides  on  his  farm  a  few  miles  from  Mt.  Ver- 
non,  Illinois. 

SAMUEL  BOGART  Avas  received  on  trial  in  the 
conference  this  year,  and  appointed  to  Atlas  Cir- 
cuit. In  1828  his  appointment  was  Apple  Creek, 
frorn^  which  he  had  been  recommended  to  the  con- 
ference. The  next  year  he  was  sent  again  to  Atlas, 
and  at  the  session  of  1830  he  received  a  location  at 
his  own  request.  "  He  was  a  man  of  fine  appear- 
ance, six  feet  high  and  well  proportioned,  and  of 
good  address.  He  was  rather  illiterate,  but  was 
quite  popular  as  a  preacher.  After  he  ceased  trav- 


SAMUEL  BOGART.  277 

eling  he  settled  at  Rushville,  and  his  house  was  for 
a  time  the  preaching-place.  He  afterwards  moved 
to  Macomb,  and  during  the  Black  Hawk  War  raised 
a  battalion,  whence  he  obtained  the  title  of  colonel. 
He  subsequently  moved  to  Missouri,  where,  having 
been  set  upon  by  ruffians  he  killed  one  of  them  in 
self-defense;  but  such  was  the  combination  against 
him  that  he  fled  to  Texas,  after  which  we  have  no 
account  of  him."7 
7Dr.A.  Dunlap. 


278  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


ISK    V. 

1828. 

WABASH  DISTRICT — George  Locke,  P.  E. 

VermilUon — Henry  Buell,  Asahel  L.  Risley. 

Wabash — William  Mavity. 

Aft.  Vernon — John  Fox. 

Mt.  Carmd— Aaron  Wood. 

Cash  River— Thomas  H.  Files,  Miles  Huffaker. 

ILLINOIS  DISTRICT — Peter  Cartwright,  P.  E. 

Illinois — William  Chambers. 

Ka-skaskia — Smith  L.  Robinson,  Asahel  E.  Phelps. 

Shoal  Cretk-  Samuel  H.  Thompson,  William  L.  Deneen. 

Sangamon — James  McKean,  John  II.  Benson. 

Peoria— Jesse  Walker,  Hardin  A.  Tarkington. 

Apple  Creek— Samuel  Bogart,  J.  French. 

Atlas— Asa  D.  West. 

Galena — John  Dew. 

Pottawattomie   Mission  at  Salem,  Isaac  Scarritt. 

THE  Illinois  Conference  held  its  fifth  session  in 
the  Masonic  Hall,  Madison,  Indiana,  begin- 
ning on  Thursday,  October  9,  1828,  and  continuing 
until  Wednesday,  the  15th.  Bishop  Roberts  was 
the  presiding  officer,  and  Calvin  "W.  Ruter  was  sec- 
retary. Twenty-five  members  were  present  at  the 
opening  session. 

Twelve  preachers  were  admitted  on  trial;  viz., 
Asa  Beek,  John  H.  Benson,  Charles  Bonner,  David 
Bruner,  William  L.  Deneen,  John  E.  French,  Miles 
Huifaker,  Asahel  E.  Phelps,  Cornelius  Ruddle, 


CONFERENCE  PROCEEDINGS.  279 

Hardin  A.  Tarkington,  George  W.  Teas,  John  Van 
Clove. 

Asa  D.  West  and  William  Chambers  were  re- 
admitted. 

Two  located,  Charles  Slocumb  and  Thos.  Randle. 

And  three,  John  Hardy,  William  Echols,  and 
Daniel  Newton  were  discontinued,  the  two  latter  at 
their  own  request. 

None  had  died,  and  none  were  transferred  to  or 
from  the  conference. 

Six  local  deacons  were  elected  to  elder's  orders : 
Thomas  Silvey,  John  Mercer,  George  A.  Colbert, 
Zadoc  Casey,  Anthony  W.  Casad,  and  John  Burns. 

And  fifteen  local  preachers  were  elected  deacons: 
Samuel  Barrett,  James  Lunaville,  Philip  Connor, 
Isaac  N.  Ellsbury,  George  Swartz,  Henry  Summers, 
Benjamin  Davis,  Jacob  Swartz,  Braxton  Parrish, 
Richard  Wheeler,  John  Dallihan,  Robert  Parritt, 
Little  Page  Proctor,  David  B.  Carter,  William 
Mills. 

Two  of  the  preachers,  William  Shanks  and  James 
Garner,  were,  at  their  own  request,  left  without  ap- 
pointments. 

The  conference  received  from  the  Book  Concern 
$150,  and  from  the  Chartered  Fund  $90. 

A  communication  was  received  from  a  society 
denominated  "  The  Female  Domestic  Missionary 
Society  of  Madison,"  accompanied  with  a  donation 
of  $6.46;f.  The  •  conference  gave  a  vote  of  thanks 
to  the  society  for  "  their  laudable  zeal  in  support 
of  the  Gospel,"  and  appointed  a  committee  of  four 
to  appropriate  it  to  the  most  needy. 


280  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Thomas  Biggs,  a  local  preacher,  who  had  been 
expelled  by  the  quarterly  conference  of  Whitewater 
Circuit,  appealed  from  their  decision  to  the  annual 
conference.  The  case  was  sent  back  for  a  new 
trial. 

The  Pottawattoraie  Mission,  as  usual,  received 
attention  from  the  conference.  The  superintendent 
presented  a  report,  and  a  committee  was  appointed 
upon  the  mission,  who  also  made  a  report,  which 
was  read  and  accepted,  but  the  journal  does  not 
show  what  the  report  recommended,  or  whether  the 
conference  took  any  further  action  upon  it.  Indeed, 
the  journal  of  this  year  is  so  brief  as  to  show  but 
little  of  the  action  of  conference  beyond  the  regu- 
lar minute  business. 

"  The  book  agent  from  Cincinnati  made  a  verbal 
communication  relative  to  the  books  on  hand  in  the 
bounds  of  the  conference."  This  item  to  one  not 
acquainted  with  the  former  mode  of  operations  by 
the  Book  Concern,  would  be  unintelligible ;  but  to 
those  who  are  aware  that  for  some  years  books  were 
deposited  with  the  presiding  elders,  who  were  to 
supply  the  preachers  and  people,  and  that  serious 
losses  were  incurred  by  the  conference  from  this 
mode  of  doing  business,  the  item  will  be  plain 
enough. 

Upon  the  subject  of  a  conference  seminary  the 
following  action  was  had :  The  vacancy  in  the  com- 
mittee appointed  at  the  previous  session,  occasioned 
by  the  absence  of  Peter  Cartwright,  was  filled  by 
the  appointment  of  Samuel  H.  Thompson.  A  me- 
morial with  accompanying  documents  in  his  hands, 


LEBANON  SEMINARY.  281 

concerning  a  seminary  at  Lebanon,  Illinois,  was 
read  and  referred  to  a  committee  of  three  to  con- 
sider and  report  on.  They  presented  a  report,  which 
was  read  and  accepted.  Then  the  vote  by  which  it 
was  accepted  was  reconsidered,  and  it  was  resolved 
that  the  report  be  amended  by  striking  out  that 
portion  of  it  which  recommends  the  conference  at 
its  present  session  to  appoint  trustees  to  said  semi- 
nary, and  then  the  report  was  accepted.  Then  it 
was  resolved  that  the  conference  unite  in  requesting 
the  stockholders  of  the  seminary  at  Lebanon1  to 
meet  as  soon  as  convenient,  and  so  alter  and  amend 
their  constitution  as  to  designate  the  number  of 
trustees  for  said  institution,  and  the  manner  of  their 
appointment  more  definitely ;  and  the  secretary  was 
instructed  to  furnish  the  committee  of  the  Illinois 
Circuit  with  a  copy  of  the  resolution  of  the  confer- 
ence. We  are  thus  particular  in  detailing  the  action 
of  the  conference,  as  this  was  the  first  literary  insti- 
tution under  the  patronage  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  great  North-west  Territory, 
and  also  because  it  was  the  beginning  of  an  insti- 
tution (McKendree  College)  that  lias  done  as  much 
by  its  numerous  graduates  who  have  entered  into 
political  life,  and  by  the  many  ministers  it  has  edu- 
cated, to  shape  the  policy  of  the  State,  and  give 
character  to  the  Church,  as  any  institution  in  the 
State. 

Resolutions  were  adopted  requiring  each  preacher 

1  The  seminary  was  already  in  operation.  Its  first  teacher 
was  a  Miss  MoMnrphy.  Afterward  Edward  R.  Ames  was 
called  to  the  principalship. 


282  METHODISM  IN  ILLIXOIS. 

to  use  his  best  efforts  to  form  a  missionary  society 
within  his  charge,  to  sustain  the  relation  of  a  branch 
society  to  the  conference  society,  and  also  to  do 
what  he  could  in  the  formation  of  Sunday-schools 
auxiliary  to  the  Sunday-school  Society  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church. 

This  session  was  held  while  the  so-called  Radi- 
cal controversy  that  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church  was  raging.  A  num- 
ber of  persons  had  been  expelled  from  the  Church 
in  Cincinnati,  Pittsburg,  and  elsewhere  for  agitating 
the  question  of  lay  representation  and  kindred  top- 
ics. Many  believed  these  expulsions  unwise;  some 
thought  them  illegal. 

While  presiding  at  this  session  of  the  conference, 
Bishop  Roberts  was  asked,  "  Whether  the  per- 
sons who  composed  the  quarterly  conference,  after 
having  sat  on  a  trial  below,  could  sit  as  jurors  in 
the  quarterly  conference?"  The  bishop  replied: 
"  If  the  same  persons  were  to  try  the  case  again, 
what  would  be  the  advantage  of  an  appeal  ?  "  The 
questioner  then  observed  that  the  Discipline  was 
in  favor  of  it.  The  bishop  said,  "  The  Discipline 
gives  them  a  seat  in  the  conference,  and  though 
it  does  not  say  they  should  not  act,  yet  delicacy 
and  a  sense  of  propriety  would  dictate  that  they 
should  not  act  in  such  case."2 

The  only  change  in  the  plan  of  the  work  this 
year  was  the  establishment  of  the  Galena  Mission 
in  the  lead  mining  region  in  the  north-western  por- 
tion of  the  State. 

2Bassett's  History  of  the  M.  P.  Church. 


METHODIST  PROTESTANTS.  283 

Charles  Holliday,  having  been  elected  book  agent 
at  Cincinnati,  was  succeeded  on  the  Wabash  District 
by  George  Locke ;  and  John  Dew,  who  had  been 
superintendent  of  and  collector  for  the  Indian  Mis- 
sion the  year  before,  was  now  sent  to  the  newly 
formed  Galena  Mission. 

This  year  witnessed  the  first  organization  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church  in  Illinois.  It  took 
place  in  Morgan  County,  on  the  Sangamon  Circuit, 
February  13,  1829.  Two  local  elders,  Reddick  H. 
Home  and  James  Sims,  united  in  the  movement 
with  thirteen  laymen.  Mr.  Home  had  been  twice 
suspended  for  his  views  on  Church  polity.  After 
his  trial  and  deposition,  he  and  those  who  sympa- 
thized with  him  as  the  victim  of  oppression  with- 
drew from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
united  with  the  new  organization.  Mr.  Home  after- 
wards became  president  of  one  of  the  conferences 
of  that  Church. 

But  despite  this  agitation  and  secession,  the  year 
was  one  of  great  prosperity  to  the  Church.  There 
was  an  increase  in  the  membership  of  1,719,  the 
whole  number  reported  at  the  close  of  the  year 
being  7,042  whites,  and  64  colored.  The  largest 
increase  was  on  the  Vermillion  Circuit,  which, 
under  the  labors  of  Henry  Bucll  and  A.  L.  Risley, 
gained  336  members.  Shoal  Creek  gained  297 ; 
Kaskaskia,  208;  Apple  Creek,  184,  and  several 
others  over  100  each.  Illinois  Circuit  was  the  only 
charge  reporting  a  decrease,  and  that  of  only  one 
member. 

Amongst  the  many  new  preaching  places  estab- 


284  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS 

lished  this  year  was  one  on  the  Apple  Creek  Cir- 
cuit, four  miles  west  of  Winchester,  at  the  house 
of  JACOB  BAKER,  of  whom  honorable  mention  de- 
serves to  be  made.  He  was  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, born  in  1791.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  War 
of  1812  under  General  Harrison,  and  saw  the  death 
of  Tccumseh  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames.  In  1820 
he  emigrated  to  Illinois;  and  in  1828,  having  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Slagel,  he  erected  a  log-cabin,  and 
even  before  a  floor  was  laid  in  it,  offered  it  to  the 
Church  as  a  preaching  place.  For  thirty  years  cir- 
cuit preaching  continued  to  be  held  in  his  house, 
until  a  comfortable  church,  Rutledge  Chapel,  was 
erected  in  the  neighborhood.  He  died  in  1879.3 

The  following  appear  as  laborers  in  Illinois  for 
the  first  time : 

GEORGE  LOCKE  was  born  at  Cannonstown,  Penn- 
sylvania, June  8,  1797.  His  grandfather  and  great- 
grandfather were  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  En- 
gland. When  but  an  infant,  his  parents  emigrated 
to  Kentucky,  settling  first  in  Mason  County,  and 
afterwards  at  Shelbyville.  His  early  school  advan- 
tages were  limited ;  but  his  father  had  a  good  library, 
and  in  boyhood  he  acquired  a  great  love  of  books, 
spending  most  of  his  leisure  hours  in  reading.  When 
about  seventeen  he  was  converted  and  united  with 
the  Church  in  a  great  revival  that  occurred  in  Shel- 
byville under  the  labors  of  a  local  preacher,  Edward 
Talbot.  In  his  twentieth  year  he  received  license 
to  exhort,  and  was  employed  by  the  presiding  elder, 
Marcus  Lindsey,  to  travel  a  circuit.  The  next  year, 


GEORGE  LOCKE.  285 

1818,  he  was  received  in  the  Tennessee  Conference, 
traveling  in  it  two  years,  and  one  in  the  Kentucky 
Conference,  into  which  he  had  fallen  at  its  forma- 
tion in  1820.  At  the  conference  of  1821,  having 
married  Miss  Elizabeth  B.  McReyuolds,  he  located 
and  settled  in  Shelbyville.  The  following  year  he 
was  readmitted,  and  labored  in  the  Kentucky  Con- 
ference until  1825,  when,  on  account  of  his  dislike 
to  slavery,  with  his  brother-in-law,  William  Cham- 
bers, and  Charles  Holliday,  he  was  transferred  to 
the  Illinois  Conference.  He  traveled  for  three  years 
on  circuits  in  Indiana,  and  in  1828  was  appointed 
to  the  W abash  District,  on  which  he  remained  four 
years.  Here  his  labors  and  exposure  were  so  severe 
as  seriously  to  affect  his  health.  His  constitution, 
never  strong,  received  a  shock  in  the  last  year  of 
his  labors  on  the  district  from  which  he.  never  re- 
covered. "  Some  time  in  the  Winter  of  1831  and 
1832,  one  of  the  severest  Winters  ever  known  in 
the  West,  Mr.  Locke  was  returning  home  after  an 
absence  of  several  weeks.  When  he  reached  the 
Wabash  River  he  found  it  gorged  with  ice.  He 
and  another  traveler  waited  at  the  house  of  the 
ferryman  three  or  four  days  for  a  change  in  the 
weather,  or  in  the  condition  of  the  ice;  but  as  no 
change  came,  and  as  they  were  impatient  to  proceed 
on  their  journey,  they  resolved  on  breaking  a  chan- 
nel through  the  ice  for  the  ferry-boat.  Accordingly, 
the  next  morning  they  addressed  themselves  to  the 
work  with  all  diligence,  and  at  sunset  found  them- 
selves within  a  rod  or  two  of  the  opposite  shore. 
Mr.  Locke  was  standing  on  the  bow  of  the  boat, 


286  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

fatigued  and  tremulous,  breaking  the  ice  with  a  rail. 
Striking  a  piece  of  it  with  all  the  force  he  could 
command,  it  suddenly  gave  way,  not  making  the 
resistance  he  had  anticipated,  and  precipitated  him 
into  the  river.  As  he  rose  and  was  just  drifting 
under  the  ice,  his  companions  rescued  him.  Though 
the  shock  was  a  fearful  one,  and  he  was  not  only 
thoroughly  drenched,  but  thoroughly  chilled  also, 
he  resolved  to  persevere  in  his  work,  and  actually 
did  persevere  till  the  shore  was  reached.  He  then 
mounted  his  horse  and  rode  ten  miles  to  the  next 
house,  but  when  he  reached  there  he  was  frozen  to 
the  saddle  and  speechless.  The  horse  stopped  of 
his  own  accord,  and  the  family  coming  to  the  door 
and  perceiving  his  condition,  lifted  him  from  his 
horse  and  cared  for  him  very  kindly,  until  after  a 
day  or  two  he  was  able  to  resume  his  journey."* 

Whilst  on  this  district  his  pay  was  so  meager  as 
often  barely  to  meet  his  traveling  expenses,  so  that 
it  became  necessary  for  his  wife  to  engage  in  teach- 
ing to  support  the  family.  In  1832,  falling  into 
the  newly  formed  Indiana  Conference,  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  Corydon  Circuit;  but  at  the  next 
session,  his  health  having  failed,  he  was  granted  a 
superannuated  relation,  and  removed  to  New  Al- 
bany, where,  with  his  wife,  he  engaged  in  teaching. 
After  a  few  months,  however,  he  was  compelled  to 
yield  to  the  disease  which  had  fastened  on  him, 
consumption,  and  on  July  15,  1834,  he  died  in  full 
prospect  of  heaven,  crying  with  his  last  breath, 
"  Glory,  glory,  glory !"  Mr.  Locke  was  a  man  of 

4Sprague's  Annals. 


STYLE  AND  HABITS.  287 

more  than  ordinary  ability.  He  was  a  hard  student 
during  his  whole  life.  "Amidst  all  his  manifold 
and  self-denying  labors  he  never  abated  his  habits 
of  study.  He  redeemed  time,  not  only  for  the. study 
of  systematic  theology,  but  for  general  reading.  He 
acquired  some  knowledge  of  Greek  -and  Latin,  and 
made  considerable  proficiency  in  the  higher  branches 
of  mathematics.  He  continued  his  studies  till  a  few 
weeks  before  his  death,  and  had  his  books  brought 
to  him  even  after  he  was  confined  to  his  bed." 
During  his  entire  ministry  he  was  blessed  with 
extensive  revivals  of  religion.  He  was  a  superior 
preacher.  His  sermons  were  clear,  forcible,  and 
logical.  He  was  well  versed  in  all  the  doctrines  of 
the  Church,  and  was  faithful  and  earnest  in  defend- 
ing them  against  opposers.  He  was  a  man  of  strong 
convictions  and  of  remarkable  firmness.  He  al- 
lowed nothing  to  turn  him  aside  from  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  the  path  of  duty.  He  was  very  decided 
in  his  opposition  to  slavery  and  to  the  use  of  tobacco. 
So  strong  was  his  opposition  to  the  latter,  that  when 
in  his  last  illness  smoking  was  recommended  to  him 
as  a  means  of  relief,  he  utterly  refused  it,  preferring 
to  suffer  rather  than  violate  his  convictions  of  right. 
His  social  qualities  were  fine ;  he  was  a  true  Chris- 
tian gentleman.  His  piety  was  deep  and  ardent. 
So  faithful  was  he  in  secret  prayer  that  even  in  his 
journeys  it  was  never  neglected.  Although  travel- 
ing in  company  with  others,  when  his  hour  for 
prayer  arrived,  he  would  dismount  from  his  horse, 
and  retiring  into  some  secret  place,  would  hold  his 
accustomed  communion  with  God.  He  is  still  re- 


288  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

mernbered  by  some  of  the  old  settlers  in  the  Wabash 
valley  as  one  of  the  best  of  men,  and  one  of  the 
ablest  of  the  preachers  of  his  day. 

Of  the  early  history  of  HENRY  BUELL  we  know 
nothing.  He  was  received  on  trial  in  1826,  and 
for  two  years  assigned  to  appointments  in  Indiana. 
Whilst  on  the  Vermillion  Circuit  this  year,  he  was 
charged  with  improper  conduct,  and  at  the  ensuing 
annual  conference,  "  some  objections  being  made  to 
his  moral  character,  he  received  a  location  at  his 
own  request,  and  the  presiding  elder  of  the  district 
was  instructed  to  withhold  the  certificate  of  his  loca- 
tion until  his  case  should  be  legally  investigated."4 

ASAHEL,  L.  BJSI.EY  was  a  native  of  Kentucky, 
born  in  Bullitt  County,  February  14,  1804.  In 
1825  he  united  with  the  Church  as  a  seeker  of  re- 
ligion, and  was  soon  after  happily  converted  at  a 
camp-meeting  near  Shelby ville.  Two  years  after- 
wards, having  removed  to  Indiana,  he  was  licensed 
to  preach,  and  united  with  the  Illinois  Conference 
in  1827.  He  traveled  in  succession  the  Vincennes, 
Vermillion,  Brownsville,  Sullivan,  and  Eugene  Cir- 
cuits, the  latter  for  two  years,  when,  his  health  hav- 
ing failed,  he  was  in  1833  granted  a  superannuated 
relation.  The  next  year  he  was  on  the  supernu- 
merary list,  and  in  1835  he  was  appointed  to  Alton. 
At  the  close  of  the  year  he  located.  The  next  year 
he  was  readmitted  and  assigned  to  Mt.  Carmel,  and 
the  following  year  to  Danville,  at  the  close  of  which 
he  again  located.  In  1842  he  was  readmitted  and 
appointed  to  Bloomington ;  for  the  two  following 

*  Illinois  Conference  Journal. 


WILLIAM  MA  VITY.  289 

years  he  was  at  Pittsfield,  and  then  for  three  years 
he  presided  over  the  Quincy  District.  In  1848  he 
was  transferred  to  Rock  Iliver  Conference  and  ap- 
pointed to  Chicago  District,  upon  which  he  labored 
two  years,  when  he  was  retransferred  to  the  Illinois 
Conference  and  appointed  agent  for  McKendrce 
College.  The  next  year  he  fell  into  the  Southern 
Illinois  Conference,  of  which  he  remained  a  mem- 
ber till  death.  His  appointments  in  it  were  Brigh- 
ton, Jerseyville,  Jerseyville  Circuit,  Collinsville 
two  years,  Pocahontas,  Trenton  two  years,  Mas- 
coutah  two  years,  and  Centralia  and  Richview  two 
years.  In  1864  he  was  placed  on  the  superannu- 
ated list,  on  which  he  remained  until  his  death, 
August  24,  1874.  "  Brother  Risley  possessed  a  very 
amiable,  loving  spirit.  He  was  a  devoted  lover  of 
God  and  his  Church.  He  was  a  good  preacher,  of 
sound  doctrines,  and  exemplary  practice  in  good 
works.  He  was  kind  to  his  family  and  beloved  by 
his  friends.  Few  men  have  traveled  mote  exten- 
sively, or  labored  more  faithfully,  and  his  memory 
is  precious  in  numerous  places.  He  was  a  good 
man  who  passed  unspotted  through  this  world."5 

WII,L,IAM  MAVITY  was  born  in  Franklin  County, 
Virginia,  in  the  year  1780.  In  1804  he  removed  to 
Tennessee,  where  he  was  converted  four  years  after- 
wards, and  the  following  year  received  license  to 
preach.  He  labored  as  a  local  preacher  in  Tennes- 
see, Kentucky,  and  Indiana  until  1827,  when  he 
was  received  as  an  itinerant  in  the  Illinois  Confer- 
ence. His  first  appointment  was  Booneville  Cir- 

5  General  Minutes. 


290  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

cuit.  In  1828  he  was  sent  to  Wabash  Circuit,  and 
the  next  year  to  Rockville,  where  he  labored  two 
years.  In  1831  he  was  appointed  to  Iroquois  Cir- 
cuit. The  following  year  he  was  on  the  superannu- 
ated list.  From  the  conference  of  1833  he  was 
sent  again  to  the  Wabash  Circuit,  but  died  before 
completing  the  year,  in  August,  1834.  "He  labored 
with  acceptance  and  usefulness  as  a  minister  of 
Christ.  He  lived  a  pious  life,  and  died  a  happy 
death." 6 

MILES  HUFFAKER  was  born  in  Wayne  County, 
Kentucky,  in  the  year  1806.  He  was  converted 
when  nine  years  old,  and  licensed  to  preach  when 
twenty-one.  In  1828  he  was  received  on  trial  in 
the  Illinois  Conference,  and  traveled  in  succession 
the  Cash  River,  Mt.  Vcrnon,  and  Shelbyville  Cir- 
cuits in  Illinois,  and  Frankfort,  in  Indiana.  He 
then  fell  into  the  Indiana  Conference,  in  which  he 
traveled  until  1844,  Avhcn  the  conference  was  divi- 
ded ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  one  year,  in  which 
he  was  local,  he  retained  his  connection  with  the 
North  Indiana  Conference  until  his  death,  July  27, 
1852.  "  His  abilities  for  preaching  were  but  mod- 
erate, but  he  was  a  good  man  and  a  laborious  min- 
ister. He  was  firmly  attached  to  the  doctrines  and 
usages  of  Methodism.  He  was  fully  sustained  in 
his  last  moments  by  the  power  of  that  Gospel  he 
preached  to  others." 7 

The  name  of  ASAHEL  E.  PHELPS  will  be  long 
remembered  in  the  charges  in  which  he  labored. 
Though  his  itinerant  career  continued  only  for 

6 General  Minutes.         'General  Minutes. 


A.  E.  PHELPS.  291 

twenty-five  years,  he  accomplished  in  it  as  much  as 
many  have  done  in  a  much  longer  period.  Received 
on  trial  this  year,  he  traveled  successively  the  Kas- 
kaskia,  Lebanon,  Salt  Creek,  Sangamon,  Alton,  Car- 
rollton,  Carlisle,  and  Pekin  Circuits,  the  latter  two 
years.  In  1837  he  was  sent  to  Peoria  Mission  Sta- 
tion. Here,  says  Mr.  Beggs,  "  he  sustained  him- 
self well.  The  court-house  (in  which  he  preached) 
was  occupied  by  a  Unitarian  preacher  as  well  as 
himself.  One  day  the  former,  in  preaching  on  the 
divinity  of  Christ,  ran  across  the  track  of  A.  E. 
Phelps,  and  so  he  pitched  into  the  Unitarian  cham- 
pion, rough-shod,  and  so  completely  showed  the  fal- 
lacy of  his  doctrine  that  he  had  to  leave,  and  A.  E. 
Phelps  had  the  house  to  himself.  By  this  he  rose 
fifty  per  cent  in  the  estimation  of  his  hearers.  Here 
commenced  his  brilliant  career  as  a  successful  cham- 
pion against  Unitarianism,  Universalism,  Deism,  and 
exclusive  imrnersiouists,  as  practicing  the  only  mode 
of  baptism.  I  do  not  think  any  one  of  his  antago- 
nists ever  got  the  better  of  him.  He  excelled  as  a 
historian,  and  was  truly  an  able  defender  of  Meth- 
odism. He  increased  in  usefulness  till  he  was 
called  from  his  labors  to  his  long  rest."  In  1838 
he  was  appointed  to  the  Mt.  Vcrnon  District,  which 
he  traveled  four  years.  Of  his  early  experience  on 
this  district  we  give  an  item  or  two  from  a  letter 
from  Rev.  J.  H.  Dickens,  who  was  then  traveling 
the  Nashville  Circuit :  "  My  presiding  elder,  Brother 
Phelps,  was  a  man  of  fine  taste,  not  only  as  to  all 
the  proprieties  of  life,  but  in  his  person  and  dress 
he  was  always  neat,  trim,  and  cleanly.  He  went 


292  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

with  me  to  my  first  quarterly-meeting  at  the  house 
of  a  Brother  P.  On  arrival  we  found  a  little,  black, 
round-poled  eabin,  twelve  by  sixteen,  in  two  rooms, 
the  front  one  for  meeting,  the  other  with  two  beds 
or  bunks  in  it.  The  wind  was  high,  and  the  front 
door  closed,  while  the  wooden  chimney  smoked  ter- 
ribly. To  get  in  at  the  back  door  with  our  saddle- 
bags, we  had  to  press  in  sideways.  The  cabin  was 
full  of  smoke,  but  the  sister  said,  ( Sit  down.'  I 
obeyed,  but  the  elder  beat  a  retreat.  Very  soon  I 
had  to  follow.  I  found  him  perched  on  the  top  of 
a  huge  pile  of  wood,  surveying  the  scene.  The 
sides  of  the  cabin  were  mostly  covered  with  deer- 
skins, 'coon  skins,  and  all  sorts  of  wild  game  skins. 
The  top  of  it  (it  was  a  very  low,  one-story  build- 
ing) was  laden  with  horns  and  various  bones  of  the 
animals  whose  hides  covered  the  sides.  When  I 
spoke  to  the  elder  and  told  him  it  was  about  time 
for  service,  he,  utterly  discouraged  at  the  prospect, 
asked  me  if  we  had  not  better  go  home.  I  cheered 
him  as  well  as  I  could,  and  told  him  it  would  be 
better  further  on.  A  dozen  or  so  of  hearers  were 
soon  gathered,  but  the  eleven  o'clock  service  was 
enough  for  all  in. the  house.  We  concluded  to  hold 
the  remaining  services  of  the  meeting  in  a  log  shed 
the  brother  had  erected  near  the  house.  It  had  no 
floor,  the  sides  were  open,  and  it  was  late  in  the 
Fall,  but  this  was  the  best  we  could  do.  With  a 
pile  of  rough  boards  we  covered  about  half  the 
floor  for  the  ladies,  raising  it  more  than  two  feet 
from  the  ground,  and  leaving  the  bare  earth  for  the 
men.  On  Sunday  night  we  had  a  time  of  power. 


DEBATE  WITH  MORMONS.  293 

The  mourners  were  invited  to  the  board  floor,  and 
a  number  came.  The  space  was  so  limited,  and  the 
male  mourners  so  crowded,  that  some  were  lying 
rather  across  the  others.  Soon  one  of  the  men  was 
converted.  He  was  a  very  stout  man  and  had  been 
at  the  bottom  of  the  pile.  As  he  felt  the  power  he 
sprang  up  and  kicked  at  once.  Two  or  three  others 
were  pushed  ov.er  the  edge  of  the  floor ;  for  a  few 
moments  arms  and  legs  seemed  to  be  flying  in  all 
directions,  and  the  scene  was  so  ludicrous  that,  de- 
spite the  surroundings,  there  was  general  laughter. 
A  number  were  converted,  however,  that  night,  and 
united  with  the  Church.  And,  amid  the  general 
joy,  in  which  the  elder  shared  with  the  rest  of  us, 
the  smoke,  skins,  and  bones  were  all  forgotten.  It 
was  a  glorious  quarterly-meeting. 

"In  the  Summer  of  1839  three  Mormon  elders 
made  a  raid  into  the  region  south  of  the  Nashville 
Circuit,  and  soon  began  their  proselyting.  Mr. 
Plu-lps,  who  was  living  at  Mt.  Vernon,  heard  of  it, 
and  sent  a  challenge  to  them  to  debate  with  him. 
Passing  through  Nashville,  he  would  have  me  go 
with  him.  He  debated  with  the  three,  one  at  a 
time,  at  a  large,  private  house,  until  noon ;  when 
the  crowd  becoming  too  great,  they  adjourned  to  a 
large  barn  in  the  neighborhood.  The  discussion 
continued  during  the  afternoon  until  about  five 
o'clock,  when  one  of  the  Mormons,  completely  dis- 
comfited, broke  down,  and  left  the  field.  About 
an  hour  later,  a  second  of  the  champions  quit,  nmid 
the  derision  of  the  crowd.  The  third  was  soon 
silenced,  and  as  he  started  to  run,  Brother  Phelps 


294  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

kept  hurling  at  him  hot,  blazing  missiles,  while  the 
shouts  and  hootings  of  the  crowd  rent  the  air.  The 
next  morning  a  committee  of  the  citizens  waited  on 
the  Mormons,  giving  them  three  hours  in  which  to 
leave  the  country.  They  left." 

Mr.  Phelps's  next  appointment  was  Peoria  Dis- 
trict, on  which  he  labored  two  years,  when,  falling 
into  the  Rock  River  Conference,  he  was  assigned  to 
the  Washington  District,  on  which  he  also  continued 
two  years.  Then  for  three  years  he  was  agent  for 
Rock  River  Seminary.  In  1849-50  he  was  in  Ga- 
lena Station.  In  1851  he  was  appointed  to  Rock 
Island  District,  on  which  he  labored  until  his  death, 
in  1853. 

WILLIAM  L.  DEXEEN  was  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, born  at  Bedford,  Mifflin  County,  October  30, 
1798.  He  was  converted  at  Charleston,  Indiana,  in 
1827,  under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  George  Locke, 
mentioned  above.  He  was  soon  licensed  to  preach, 
and  in  1828  united  with  the  Illinois  Conference. 
He  received  sixteen  appointments;  viz.,  Shoal  Creek, 
Salt  Creek,  Lebanon  three  times,  Kaskaskia,  Browns- 
ville, Carlisle,  Waterloo  twice,  Edwardsville,  Belle- 
ville twice,  Upper  Alton,  Alton,  and  Staunton. 
During  the  remainder  of  his  connection  with  the 
conferences,  at  first  the  Illinois,  and  after  1852  the 
Southern  Illinois,  he  was  on  the  superannuated  list. 
"  For  more  than  thirty  years  he  lived  in  Lebanon, 
and  all  concede  him  to  have  been  an  honest,  faith- 
ful, pure,  and  strictly  conscientious  man.  As  a 
preacher  he  was  able,  searching,  and  very  instruc- 
tive. He  loved  all  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  and 


JAMES  McKEAN.  295 

for  many  years  was  a  living  witness  to  the  cleans- 
ing power  of  the  atoning  blood  of  Christ.  For 
near  six  months  prior  to  his  decease  he  was  mostly 
confined  to  his  room ;  yet  he  never  became  impa- 
tient, nor  did  a  repining  word  escape  his  lips.  In 
visiting  him  his  pastor  always  found  him  deeply 
interested  in  the  advancement  of  every  good  and 
noble  cause,  but  especially  with  regard  to  the  wel- 
fare of  our  own  Zion  ;  and  in  their  last  interview 
he  stated  that  he  had  no  fear,  no  anxiety,  no  cloud, 
and  that  no  thought  nor  will  of  his  conflicted  with 
the  will  of  his  heavenly  Father."8  For  many  years 
of  his  superannuation  he  was  surveyor  or  deputy- 
surveyor  for  the  county,  a  position  in  which  he  had 
but  fe\v  equals  and  no  superiors.  It  was  while 
surveying  that  he  took  the  cold  that  caused  his  last 
illness.  He  died  July  1,  1879,  in  his  eighty-first 
year. 

Of  the  parentage  or  birthplace  of  JAMES  Mo 
KEAX  we  have  no  information.  He  was  born  in 
1795,  and  converted  in  1824.  His  conviction  was 
deep  and  pungent,  and  his  conversion  clear  and 
powerful.  Having  been  licensed  first  to  exhort  and 
then  to  preach,  he  was  received  on  trial  in  the  Illi- 
nois Conference  in  1827,  and  appointed  to  Paoli, 
Indiana.  In  1828  he  traveled  the  Sangamon  Cir- 
cuit, and  the  next  two  years  the  Vermillion  Circuit. 
Then  he  spent  one  year  each  on  Mt.  Carmel, 
"VVabash,  Paris,  and  Embarrass  River  Circuits.  In 
1835  his  name  does  not  appear  on  the  Minutes.  In 
183G  he  was  sent  to  Buffalo  Grove;  the  next  year 

8  General  Minutes. 


296  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

to  Picatolica;  in  1838  to  Freeport,  and  in  1839  to 
Wai  worth,  Wisconsin.  In  1840,  falling  into  the 
newly  formed  Rock  River  Conference,  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  Troy,  Wisconsin.  During  the  next  four 
years  he  was  at  Roscoe,  Freeport,  and  Apple  River, 
remaining  on  this  charge  two  years.  In  1845  he 
was  superannuated.  In  1846  and  1847  he  was  at 
Union  Grove,  in  1848  at  Prophetstown,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  year  was  again  placed  on  the  superan- 
nuated list,  on  which  he  remained  until  his  death 
at  his  own  residence  in  Carroll  County,  Illinois, 
May,  28,  1856.  "  Brother  McKean  was  not  regarded 
as  a  great  preacher,  but  he  was  a  good  preacher  and 
useful  wherever  he  went.  He  was  faithful  in  attend- 
ing to  his  appointments;  visited  from  house  to 
house,  held  prayer-meetings,  met  his  classes,  and  in- 
structed the  children  in  every  place.  He  was  a 
most  excellent  pastor,  and  did  all  he  could  to  get 
men  converted  to  God  and  build  up  the  Church. 
He  was  a  devoted  Christian,  and  so  consistent  that 
none  doubted  his  piety  or  the  purity  of  his  motives. 
He  was  an  affectionate,  kind,  and  devoted  husband. 
In  the  discharge  of  his  duty  as  a  father,  he  labored 
to  bring  up  his  children  in  the  fear  and  favor  of 
God.  As  a  neighbor,  he  was  peaceable,  kind,  and 
obliging  in  all  his  intercourse  with  society.  He 
was  emphatically  given  to  hospitality.  The  preach- 
ers and  their  families  were  especially  welcome  to 
the  best  he  had  to  give.  None  called  who  were  not 
affectionately  received  ;  none  departed  who  did  not 
carry  away  with  him  a  deep  impression  that  Chris- 
tianity ruled  in  that  family.  He,  although  super- 


JOHN  H.  BENSON.  297 

animated,  continued  to  preach  as  much  as  his  health 
would  allow  in  different  neighborhoods  in  the  coun- 
try around  his  residence,  and  always  with  accep- 
tance to  those  who  heard  him.  His  sickness,  though 
severe,  was  endured  with  patience  and  Christian 
submission ;  he  often  expressed  confidence  in  a  liv- 
ing Redeemer,  and  an  entire  trust  in  the  sufficiency 
of  his  grace.  A  little  before  his  death  he  took  his 
wife  by  the  hand,  and  in  a  most  touching  manner, 
alluded  to  their  toils  and  travels  in  the  vineyard  of 
the  Lord,  through  the  frontiers  of  the  West ;  and 
then  said,  l  This  is  our  last  interview,  now  we  must 
part.'  Calling  for  his  children,  he  spoke  to  each  in 
an  appropriate  manner,  exhorting  them  all  to  devote 
their  hearts  and  lives  to  God.  Thus  finishing  his 
work,  he  fell  asleep  in  Jesus."9 

JOHN  H.  BENSON  was  born  in  Boston,  Massa- 
chusetts, August  10,  1797,  and  lived  in  that  place 
and  New  York  City  until  the  age  of  twenty -three, 
when  he  came  to  the  West.  He  embraced  religion 
at  the  Union  Grove  Camp-meeting,  near  Lebanon, 
Illinois,  in  August,  1825,  and  united  with  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church.  He  was  licensed  to  exhort 
and  to  preach  in  1826.  In  1828  he  was  admitted 
on  trial  in  the  traveling  connection,  and  appointed 
to  the  Sangamon  Circuit.  In  1829  and  1830  he 
was  at  Mt.  Vernon,  in  1831  at  Shoal  Creek,  in  1832 
at  Carlinville,  and  the  next  year  he  was  sent  the 
second  time  to  Sangamon.  His  next  appointment 
was  Alton  Circuit,  In  1835  and  1836  he  was  at 
Lebanon,  in  1837  in  Upper  and  Middle  Alton,  and 

9  General  Minutes. 


298  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

in  1838  at  Lebanon  again.  The  next  year  he  was 
sent  to  Carlisle,  in  1840  to  Waterloo,  and  in  1841 
to  Edwardsville.  His  lust  appointment  was  Green- 
ville, but  his  health,  which  had  for  some  time  been 
very  poor,  growing  worse,  he  got  round  his  circuit 
but  once. 

On  January  1,  1843,  his  affliction  became  very 
great  (it  was  bronchitis),  and  on  Sunday  morning, 
February  5th,  in  great  peace  and  composure,  he  fell 
asleep  in  Jesus.  Brother  Benson  was  a  spare,  slen- 
der man,  of  medium  height,  straight  black  hair,  and  a 
well-developed  forehead.  He  was  a  dignified,  Chris- 
tian gentleman,  very  urbane,  and  an  able,  impressive, 
and  interesting  preacher.  "  Enjoying  the  fullness  of 
the  blessing  of  Christ's  life  and  death  in  himself,  the 
great  trait  in  his  preaching  was  Christ  crucified. 
To  'the  cross  all  stained  with  hallowed  blood/  he 
continually  pointed  his  weeping  congregations.  His 
leading  characteristic  was  a  grave  dignity.  Though 
very  social,  he  was  never  known  to  jest.  He  was 
very  useful;  he  had  many  powerful  revivals  in  dif- 
ferent portions  of  the  fields  assigned  him,  many 
souls  were  convicted  and  converted  under  his  min- 
istry ;  many  wanderers  were  called  back,  many  were 
stirred  up  to  increased  faith  in  the  Lord."1"  His 
frequent  reappointment  to  the  same  charge,  uncom- 
mon in  those  days,  indicated  his  popularity,  as  well 
as  his  ability  as  a  preacher.  Of  the  fifteen  appoint- 
ments he  received,  there  were  only  three,  exclusive 
of  his  last,  to  which  he  was  not  sent  a  second  time, 
and  on  one,  Lebanon,  he  labored  three  years. 

10 General  Minutes. 


JOHN  E.  FRENCH.  209 

HARDIN  A.  TARKIXGTOX,  received  on  trial  this 
year,  traveled  in  succession  the  Peoria,  Rockville, 
and  Logausport  Circuits,  and  in  1831  received  a 
location  at  his  own  request.  When  admitted  to 
conference  he  was  quite  young,  and  had  had  but 
few  advantages. 

JOHN  E.  FREXCH  was  an  Englishman,  born 
in  Dorsetshire,  September  29,  1805.  In  his  thir- 
teenth year,  with  his  parents  he  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica, and  settled  in  Cincinnati.  While  living  there 
he  was  converted  and  united  writh  the  Church.  In 
1828  he  commenced  his  itinerant  life  in  the  Illinois 
Conference  on  the  Apple  Creek  Circuit.  His  next 
appointment  was  Bloomington,  to  which  he  was  ap- 
pointed again  in  1833.  In  1830  he  was  assigned  to 
Vermillion,  the  next  year  to  Brownsville,  and  the 
next  to  Jonesboro.  In  1834  he  was  sent  to  Flat 
Branch,  1835  to  Marion,  the  next  year  to  Mt.  Car- 
mel  Circuit,  and  in  1837  to  Eugene,  on  which  he 
labored  two  years.  At  the  conference  of  1839  he 
was  granted  a  superannuated  relation,  in  which  he 
remained  until  his  death,  February  2,  1841.  He 
was  a  man  of  fine  appearance,  large  and  portly,  and 
possessed  of  great  energy.  "Brother  French,  as  a 
preacher,  did  not  excel,  unless  it  was  in  usefulness. 
His  talents  were  of  the  ordinary  class,  his  literary 
attainments  but  moderate ;  but  such  was  his  deep 
piety,  that  in  usefulness  he  excelled  most  of  the 
brethren  of  his  age."11 

11  General  Minutes. 


300  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


vi. 

1829. 

WABASH  DISTRICT— George  Locke,  P.  E. 
Vermillion — James  McKean. 
v    Paris— Robert  Deltip,  John  Decker. 
Wabask — John  Fox,  Alfred  Arrington. 
Ml.  Carmel — John  Miller,  A.  F.  Thompson. 

KASKASKIA  DISTRICT — Samuel  H.  Thompson,  P.  E. 

Kaskaskia — Isaac  Scarritt. 
,  Brownsville — Asahel  Risley,  Orceneth  Fisher. 
.    Jonesboro — Samuel  C.  Cooper. 
.  Golconda— Thomas  H.  Files. 

Ml.  Vernon — John  H.  Benson,  Miles  Huffaker. 

Shoal  Creek — William  Chambers,  Wilson  Pitner. 
.  Shelbyville --Lorenzo  Edwards. 

SANGAMON  DISTRICT — Peter  Cartwright,  P.  E. 

-  Lebanon— John  Dew,  Asahel  E.  Phelps. 
Apple  Creek — James  Bankson. 

Atlas — Samuel  Bogart. 

-  Spoon  River—Asa  D.  West. 

Sangamon — Smith  L.  Robinson,  David  B.  Carter. 
.   Salt  Creek— William  L.  Deneen. 
Peoria— James  Latta. 
Fox  River  Mission — Jesse  Walker. 
Galena  Mission — Benjamin  C.  Stephenson. 

THE  session  of  1829  was  held  at  Edwardsville, 
Illinois,   Bishop   Soule    presiding,   and   Calvin 
"W.  R uter  being   elected   secretary.     It  commenced 
on  Friday,  September  18th,  and  closed  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  following  Friday.      At  the  first  calling 


CONFERENCE  SESSION.  301 

of  the  roll,  twenty-eight  responded  to  their  names. 
As  usual,  a  camp-meeting  was  held  in  connection 
with  the  conference,  at  which  about  one  hundred 
and  eighty  souls  were  converted. 

Thirteen  preachers  were  received  on  trial,  viz.: 
Richard  S.  Robinson,  Boyd  Phelps,  Lorenzo  D. 
Smith,  Anthony  F.  Thompson,  Wilson  Pitner,  Al- 
fred Arrington,  James  Latta,  John  Decker,  David 
B.  Carter,  Isaac  N.  Ellsbury,  George  West,  Samuel 
Brenton,  Lorenzo  Edwards. 

Cornelius  Ruddle  and  David  Bruner  were  dis- 
continued at  their  own  request.  Abner  H.  Cheever 
was  discontinued  in  consequence  of  inability,  from 
affliction,  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  preacher,  and 
Constant  B.  Jones  on  account  of  some  objections 
that  were  made. 

James  Garner,  Henry  Buell,  Samuel  Lowe,  and 
Isaac  S.  House  were  at  their  own  request  granted 
a  location. 

Jesse  Haile  and  James  Bankson  were  transferred 
from  the  Missouri  Conference  to  this;  and  also 
Amos  Sparks  and  Wesley  Wood,  who  had  just  been 
received  on  probation  in  the  Ohio  Conference. 

William  Grain,  John  Hogan,  Robert  H.  Jordan, 
and  George  W.  Teas  were  transferred  from  this  to 
the  Missouri  Conference. 

The  following  local  preachers  were  elected  to 
deacon's  orders :  Enoch  Moore,  Henry  Davidson, 
Clarke  Banning,  James  Bristoe,  William  Johnson, 
Thomas  Depoysture,  Joseph  Curtis,  Thomas  Cotting- 
ham,  Charles  Robinson,  John  Arrington,  Francis 
A.  Brown,  John  Byrnes,  Joseph  Springer,  Benja- 


302  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

min  Blackstone,  Jacob  Lopp,  Ebenezcr  Patrick, 
Reuben  Claypool,  Jonathan  Shaw,  James  McLane, 
John  C.  Archer. 

And  the  following  local  deacons  were  elected 
elders.:  John  Kirkpatrick,  James  Stringfield,  Par- 
ham  Handle,  William  Planter,  Moses  Osbnrn,  Law- 
rence Killibrew,  Thomas  Upjohn,  John  W.  Jones, 
David  Gunn. 

A  draft  was  ordered  on  the  Book  Concern  for 
$150,  and  on  the  Chartered  Fund  for  $90. 

A  proposition  made  on  the  first  day  that  the  con- 
ference sit  with  open  doors  was  rejected. 

A  resolution  was  adopted  that  in  the  examination 
of  character  it  shall  be  inquired  concerning  each 
presiding  elder,  "  Has  he  uniformly  held  love-feasts 
at  his  quarterly  meetings?"  and  concerning  each 
traveling  preacher,  "  Has  he  uniformly  attended  his 
appointments  and  met  the  classes?" 

Upon  the  conference  seminary  the  following  ac- 
tion was  had :  A  committee  of  three  was  appointed 
to  meet  and  confer  with  a  committee  appointed  by 
the  Missouri  Conference  at  its  last  session  (and  who 
were  announced  by  the  president  to  be  in  waiting), 
on  the  subject  of  a  conference  seminary,  with  in- 
structions to  report  as  soon  as  convenient  to  the 
conference.  John  Dew,  John  Strange,  and  Peter 
Cartwright  were  the  committee. 

The  committee  appointed  at  the  last  session  to 
take  into  consideration  the  subject  of  a  conference 
seminary,  and  report  to  this  conference,  were  dis- 
charged from  the  performance  of  any  further  duties 
on  that  subject,  they  having  made  no  report. 


CONFER EXCE  SEM1NA RY.  303 

The  joint  committee  of  the  two  conferences  pre- 
sented the  following  report:  "That  in  the  opinion 
of  the  committee,  the  members  and  friends  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  within  the  bounds  of 
the  two  conferences  are  sufficiently  numerous  and 
•wealthy  to  establish  a  literary  institution  that  would 
do  honor  to  any  country.  We  have  but  to  enlist 
the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  members  and  friends 
of  our  Church  herein.  Your  committee  doubt  not 
for  a  moment  the  practicability  of  establishing  a 
seminary  of  learning  that  shall  not  only  vie  with, 
but  excel,  any  now  in  operation  west  of  the  Wabash 
River.  Your  committee,  therefore,  respectfully  sub- 
mit to  your  consideration  the  following  preamble 
and  resolutions : 

"Whereas  the  Missouri  Annual  Conference  at  its 
last  session  did  appoint  a  committee  to  confer  with 
this  conference  on  the  subject  of  a  seminary  of 
learning,  and  did  fully  authorize  said  committee  to 
agree  upon  a  union  between  that  conference  and 
this,  if  in  the  opinion  of  this  conference  it  be  ad- 
visable, and  to  do  all  other  matters  and  things  on 
behalf  of  said  Missouri  Conference  in  relation  to  a 
joint  seminary  of  learning: 

"Resolved,  Therefore,  that  the  Illinois  Conference 
do  approve  of  a  union,  and  by  and  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  Missouri  Annual  Conference,  through 
their  committee  now  present,  do  unite  both  confer- 
ences for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  seminary  of 
learning  under  the  patronage  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church." 

This  was  adopted,  and  the  committee  was  then 


304  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

instructed  to  locate  the  site  for  said  seminary,  and 
do  all  things  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of 
the  object  contemplated  in  said  report,  and  report 
as  soon  as  convenient  to  the  conference. 

The  president  informed  the  conference  that  he 
had  received  a  communication  from  certain  citizens 
at  Mt.  Carmel  on  the  subject  of  the  conference  sem- 
inary site.  It  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  com- 
mittee. 

The  joint  committee  presented  this  further  re- 
port : 

"  Your  committee  have  had  under  consideration 
the  subject  of  locating  the  contemplated  seminary, 
and  have  not  come  to  any  thing  definite  on  that 
subject;  but  your  committee  have  agreed  to  report 
the  following  places  as  suitable  sites  for  said  loca- 
tion :  Lebanon,  in  St.  Glair  County  in  this  State, 
and  Mount  Salubria,  one  mile  west  of  the  city  of 
St.  Louis,  in  the  State  of  Missouri. 

"  Your  committee  submit  the  following  articles 
of  confederation,  as  a  compact  between  the  two  con- 
ferences, and  recommend  their  adoption  : 

"  ARTICLES 

Of  Con  federation  and  Agreement  bet-ween  the  Illinois  and  Missouri 
Annual  Conferences  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  for 
the  Purpose  of  establishing  a  Joint  Seminar;/  of  Learning  for 
both  Conferences,  made  and  entered  into  at  Edwardsrille, 
September  23,  1829,  by  the  Illinois  Conference  on  its  own 
Part,  and  by  Alexander  McAllister,  Andrew  Monroe,  and 
Jesse  Green,  Delegates  empowered  to  act  on  the  Part  of  the 
Missouri  Conference. 

"ARTICLE  1.  There  shall  be  by  the  conferences 
aforesaid  a  seminary  of  learning  located  and  estab- 


ARTICLES  OF  AGREEMENT.  305 

lished   at ,   under   the   following   regulations 

and  restrictions : 

"ARTICLE  2.  The  Illinois  and  Missouri  Annual 
Conferences  shall  have  equal  claim  to  all  the  rights, 
privileges,  and  immunities  belonging  to,  or  growing 
out  of,  said  seminary  of  learning. 

"ARTICLE  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  confer- 
ences respectively  at  each  annual  session  to  appoint 
a  committee  of  ways  and  means  to  adopt  such  meas- 
ures as  to  them  may  seem  necessary  to  raise  funds 
to  carry  into  effect  the  designs  of  this  confederation. 
And  all  moneys  or  other  means  collected  for  the 
above  purpose  shall  be  subject  to  the  order  of  the 
board  of  managers  or  trustees,  as  the  case  may  be, 
who  may  be  appointed  to  superintend  said  institution. 

"ARTICLE   4.    Each    conference    shall    annually 

elect  trustees,  who    shall    constitute    a    board, 

who  shall  have  authority  to  receive  conveyances  of 
all  real  estate,  and  superintend  said  seminary,  trans- 
act its  business,  make  all  necessary  rules  and  regu- 
lations for  their  own  government  and  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  institution;  to  fill  vacancies  that 
may  occur  in  their  body  during  the  year;  appoint 
their  own  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  do  all  other 
matters  and  things  pertaining  to  the  management 
of  said  institution.  Provided  nothing  be  done 
which  shall  in  any  wise  infringe  the  articles  of  this 
confederation. 

"ARTICLE  5.  Any  of   the   foregoing  articles  of 
this  confederation  may  be  altered,  amended,  or  re- 
scinded   upon   the   concurrent   majority  of  each  of 
these  conferences  agreeing  thereto." 
26 


306  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

The  conference  then  proceeded  to  fill  by  ballot 
the  blank  in  the  first  article  of  the  confederation, 
and  on  counting  the  votes  it  was  found  that  Mount 
Salubria,  Missouri,  had  a  majority,  and  the  blank 
was  filled  accordingly. 

The  next  day  the  conference  proceeded  to  fill 
the  blanks  in  the  remaining  articles  of  confedera- 
tion as  contained  in  the  report  of  the  joint  com- 
mittee of  Missouri  and  Illinois  Conferences  on  the 
subject  of  a  conference  seminary,  and  proceeded  to 
adopt  the  several  articles  separately.  But  on  the 
question  of  adopting  the  report  as  a  whole,  after 
some  discussion,  the  question  was  decided  in  the 
negative,  and  the  report  and  articles  were  not 
adopted.  The  vote  by  which  the  first  report  of 'the 
committee  was  adopted  was  then  reconsidered  and 
the  report  was  rejected. 

The  explanation  of  this  strange  action  is  given 
by  Dr.  Aaron  Wood  in  a  letter  to  the  writer.  It 
was  supposed  at  first  that  but  two  sites  would  be 
presented  for  the  proposed  seminary,  Mt.  Carmel 
and  Lebanon.  The  Indiana  preachers  desired  the 
school  to  be  located  at  Mt.  Carmel,  and  would  have 
co-operated  heartily  in  its  establishment  and  sup- 
port. But  the  leading  Illinois  preachers  were 
pledged  to  Lebanon  as  the  location.  And  in  order 
to  secure  it,  and  thus  defeat  the  wishes  of  the  Indi- 
ana preachers,  they  invited  the  aid  of  the  Missouri 
Conference,  who  would  be  willing,  they  of  course 
supposed,  to  come  over  the  line  so  short  a  distance 
as  to  Lebanon.  But  to  their  surprise,  when  the 
commissioners  from  Missouri  came,  they  presented 


INDIAN  MISSION  CLOSED.  307 

St.  Louis  as  the  site,  or  rather  Mt.  Salubria,  as  it 
was  termed,  the  property  now  held  by  the  Roman 
Catholics  for  their  university.  When  the  vote  was 
taken  the  Indiana  preachers,  to  show  their  appre- 
ciation of  the  ignoring  of  Mt.  Carniel  by  the  com- 
mittee, united  with  the  Missouri  Conference,  and 
left  the  friends  of  Lebanon  in  the  minority.  "In- 
diana would  have  united  at  Mt.  Carmel,  but  the 
leading  Illinois  men  were  committed  to  Lebanon, 
and  wanted  to  draw  us  all  there,  and  brought  over 
Missouri  to  checkmate  Indiana,  and  lost  both." ' 
This  of  course  caused  great  excitement  among  the 
friends  of  Lebanon.  Peter  Cartwright  declared  he 
would  rather  send  his  children  to  a  Calvinistic 
school  than  to  one  in  a  slave  State.  And  when  the 
final  vote  was  taken  the  Illinois  men  succeeded  in 
rejecting  the  whole  arrangement,  and  leaving  open 
for  future  settlement  the  question  of  a  conference 
school. 

The  Pottawattomie  Mission  was  closed  at  this 
conference,  as  the  following  resolution  shows: 

Resolved,  That,  whereas  the  Pottawattomie  In- 
dians have  disposed  of  t"heir  lands  where  the  mission 
Avas  located,  it  is  inexpedient  longer  to  continue  a 
mission  among  the  Pottawattomie  Indians,  and  the 
same  is  hereby  discontinued. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  audit  the  accounts 
of  Brother  Scarritt,  the  missionary  to  them ;  and 
another  committee  to  take  into  consideration  the 
claims  of  Jesse  Walker  to  certain  property  at  the 
missionary  station. 

»~Dr7A.  Wood. 


308  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

The  former  committee  reported,  after  examining 
the  accounts,  that  there  was  a  balance  in  their  hands 
of  one  hundred  and  forty-six  dollars,  which  was 
ordered  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer 
of  the  Illinois  Missionary  Society.  Brother  Scar- 
ritt  was  also  instructed  to  furnish  a  list  of  the  prop- 
erty at  the  Pottawattomie  Mission  to  the  missionary 
-who  may  be  appointed  to  the  Fox  River  Mission, 
and  that  said  missionary,  together  with  the  presiding 
elder  of  the  district  to  which  said  mission  shall  be 
attached,  take  charge  of  said  property  and  dispose 
of  the  same  according  to  their  best  judgment  for 
the  use  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  report  to  the  next  session  of 
this  conference. 

The  committee  on  the  claim  of  Jesse  Walker 
reported  him  to  be  justly  entitled  to  the  mill,  smith- 
tools,  wagon,  and  remnant  of  hogs,  if  any,  which 
he  claimed,  and  that  these  articles  Avere  purchased 
with  his  own  funds. 

The  mission  to  the  Indians  having  been  closed, 
the  conference  turned  its  attention  to  missions  among 
the  rapidly  extending,  but  poor,  white  settlements 
in  the  northern  portion  of  their  territory,  and  three 
new  missions  were  established,  two  in  Illinois  and 
one  in  Indiana,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  meet 
the  superintendent  to  estimate  the  amount  necessary 
to  support  these  missions. 

For  the  Galena  Mission,  embracing  the  mining 
district  on  and  near  Fever  River,  on  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  and  which  was  attached  to  the  Illinois 
District,  one  hundred  dollars  was  appropriated. 


PAPERS  PRESENTED.  309 

For  the  Fox  River  Mission,  which  was  to  com- 
mence at  Sandy  Creek  settlement,  on  the  Illinois 
River,  and,  extending  up  the  river,  to  include  the 
Vermillion  and  Fox  River  settlements,  and  all  the 
settlements  up  said  river  to  Chiuaugo,  on  the  Lake 
Michigan,  two  hundred  dollars  was  appropriated. 

And  for  the  Logansport  Mission  in  Indiana,  in- 
cluding the  country  north  and  west  of  Crawfords- 
ville  Circuit,  and  north  of  the  Vermillion  Circuit, 
on  the  Wabash  River,  fifty  dollars. 

The  presiding  elders,  in  conjunction  with  the 
preachers,  were  requested  to  use  their  utmost  exer- 
tions to  organize  one  or  more  branch  missionary 
societies  in  each  circuit  and  station  in  this  con- 
ference. 

Various  documents  were  presented  to  the  con- 
ference from  private  individuals,  or  local  preachers, 
the  nature  of  which  is  not  specified  in  the  journal, 
though  in  some  cases  we  can  infer  their  character. 

A  document  was  presented  from  Benjamin  Watt, 
an  expelled  local  preacher,  which  was  considered  by 
the  conference,  and  it  was  ordered  that  he  be  allowed 
a  new  trial  before  the  quarterly  conference  of  which 
he  was  a  member,  and  the  document  was  returned 
to  him. 

Two  documents  were  presented  to  the  conference, 
one  from  Alexander  Colbert  and  another  from 
Henry  Allen,  which  they  were  allowed  to  withdraw. 

Another  paper,  presented  to  the  conference  by 
Pierce  Holley,  was  ordered  to  be  returned  to  him. 

At  the  last  session  of  the  body  the  secretary  was 
requested  to  insert,  at  the  close  of  the  minutes  trans- 


310  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

mitted  to  the  publishers  of  the  Christian  Advocate  and 
Journal  and  Zion's  Herald  for  publication,  "  an  ac- 
count of  the  good  feeling  that  has  existed  among 
the  members  while  in  session,  the  profitable  camp- 
meeting  held  during  conference,  and  the  amount  of 
the  conference  collection,  together  with  the  amount 
of  missionary  funds  raised  on  the  occasion." 

Numerous  changes  were  made  this  year  in  the 
plan  of  the  work.  The  south-western  portion  of 
the  Wabash  and  the  southern  portion  of  the  Illinois 
District  were  formed  into  a  new  district,  the  Kas- 
kaskia,  and  the  name  of  the  Illinois  District  was 
changed  to  Sangamon.  The  Vermillion  Circuit  was 
divided,  the  Paris  Circuit  being  formed  from  the 
southern  part  of  it.  The  old  Cash  River  Circuit 
disappears,  and  the  Brownsville,  Jonesboro,  and 
Golconda  Circuits  appear  in  the  place  of  it.  The 
name  of  the  Illinois  Circuit  was  changed  to  Leba- 
non. The  Shoal .  Creek  Circuit  was  divided,  the 
north-eastern  part  of  it  being  formed  into  the  Shel- 
byvillc  Circuit.  Sangamon  Circuit  was  divided, 
and  the  northern  part  styled  Salt  Creek.  A  new 
circuit,  the  Spoon  River,  was  formed  west  of  the 
Illinois  River,  from  parts  of  Pcoria  and  Atlas  Cir- 
cuits. And,  as  stated  above,  the  Pottawattomic  In- 
dian Mission  disappears,  and  in  its  place  appears 
the  Fox  River  Mission  to  the  white  settlers. 

Under  the  changes  that  were  made,  the  work 
continued  to  prosper,  not  only  in  the  older  settle- 
ments, but  by  the  formation  of  new  societies  in  the 
newly  established  settlements.  During  this  year 
the  first  society  was  formed  in  Dewitt  County  by 


JOHN  A.  DECKER.  311 

W.  L.  Deneen,  who  was  traveling  the  Salt  Creek 
Circuit.  The  class  was  organi/ed  in  the  house  of 
Judge  William  Lowry,  a  mile  and  a  half  cast  of  the 
present  town  of  Kenney,  and  consisted  of  nineteen 
members.  Some  years  afterwards  the  circuit  preach- 
ing was  removed  to  the  house  of  Joseph  Howard, 
in  which  it  continued  for  eighteen  years,  and  until 
the  erection  of  a  church. 

The  increase  in  the  membership  in  Illinois  this 
year  was  1,258,  and  the  entire  membership  was 
8,233  whites,  and  131  colored. 

The  only  appointment  of  JOHN  A.  DECKER  in 
Illinois  was  his  first,  the  Paris  Circuit.  After  this 
he  traveled  two  years  in  Indiana,  and  then  located. 
In  1840  he  was  readmitted  in  the  Indiana  Confer- 
ence, received  three  appointments,  one  of  them  as 
supernumerary,  and  was  then  placed  on  the  superan- 
nuated list.  Pie  was  born  in  West  Tennessee,  May 
19,  1808.  When  but  a  child  he  moved  with  his 
parents  to  Harrison  County,  Indiana,  and  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  through  the  instrumentality  of  Rev. 
George  Locke,  was  brought  to  the  knowedge  of  sal- 
vation. He  was  licensed  to  preach  in  the  Fall  of 
1828,  and  the  next  year  united  with  the  conference. 
He  "  was  a  man  of  feeble  constitution,  but  possessed 
a  vigorous  mind.  His  attainments  in  theology,  and 
especially  in  Bible  knowledge,  were  very  respecta- 
ble. As  a  Christian  minister  his  deportment  Avas 
dignified  and  commanding,  and  a  vein  of  unmixed 
piety  ran  through  his  whole  course  of  conduct.  His 
public  ministrations  were  always  rich  in  instruction, 
and  we  doubt  not  but  many  will  rise  up  in  eternity 


312  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

and  call  him  blessed.  In  the  Summer  before  he 
died,  he  suffered  an  attack  of  hemorrhage  from  the 
lungs.  From  this  time  he  declined  rapidly,  and  on 
the  25th  of  October,  1843,  after  commending  his 
wife  and  children  to  Almighty  God,  he  departed 
this  life,  triumphing  in  the  grace  of  that  Gospel 
which  he  had  preached  to  others."2 

It  is  probable  that  the  Illinois  Conference  never 
received  a  more  brilliant  man  than  ALFRED  W. 
ARRINGTOX,  who  was  this  year  assigned  to  the 
Wabash  Circuit,  with  John  Fox  as  his  colleague. 
His  next  appointment  was  Lawrenceburg,  Indiana, 
with  John  \V.  McReynolds  as  his  senior.  Here  "he 
at  once  took  high  rank  among  the  ministers  and 
people  of  that  section  as  a  young  man  of  no  ordi- 
nary attainments  in  knowledge  and  in  powers  of 
eloquence ;  but  no  one  dreamed  till  towards  the 
middle  of  the  year  of  the  hidden  powers  that  lurked 
within  him.  At  a  protracted  meeting  in  a  village 
near  Lawrenceburg  his  powers  as  a  revivalist  began 
to  develop  themselves,  and  by  his  wonderful  elo- 
quence and  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the  people, 
he  swept  the  entire  neighborhood,  embracing  a  class 
of  men  who  were  generally  supposed  to  be  abso- 
lutely beyond  the  power  of  the  Gospel.  These  he 
swayed  with  the  ease  of  a  giant  playing  with  a 
child."3  In  1831  he  was  appointed  to  Vevay  as 
junior  preacher  under  John  T.  Johnson.  At  the 
close  of  the  year  he  was  transferred  to  the  Missouri 
Conference,  and  in  1833  was  sent  to  Boonslick  Cir- 
cuit. At  the  next  session  of  conference  he  was  ex- 

zGenerai  Minutes.     3  Early  Methodism  in  Indiana. 


A.  W.  ARRINGTON.  313 

pelled  from  the  Church.  Rev.  J.  C.  Smith  thus 
describes  him  as  he  preached  at  a  camp-meeting 
near  Greensburg,  Indiana,  in  1831. 

"A  young  man,  tall  and  magisterial  in  appear- 
ance, with  broad  shoulders,  large  head,  massive  fore- 
head, large  gray  eyes,  dull  and  inexpressive  while 
at  rest,  but  rolling  like  balls  of  liquid  fire  when  ex- 
cited in  public  harangue,  with  light  hair  bordering 
on  the  blonde,  carelessly  though  rather  genteelly 
dressed,  calm,  sober,  and  decorous  in  behavior, 
stepped  upon  the  stand  filled  with  ministers,  old 
and  young.  After  a  moment's  pause  he  rose  and 
read  the  opening  hymn,  beginning  '  Father,  how 
wide  thy  glories  shine,  how  high  thy  wonders  rise.' 
The  reading  of  the  hymn  was  done  in  easy,  grace- 
ful style,  every  word  and  sentence  properly  empha- 
sized, and  the  true  poetic  meaning  and  force  brought 
out.  His  prayer  was  in  keeping  with  the  hymn, 
solemn,  reverent,  comprehensive ;  no  rant,  no  false 
adulations  of  the  Deity,  no  semblance  of  a  devotion 
he  did  not  feel,  no  affectation  of  learning,  or  attempt 
to  inform  God  of  things  he  knew  not  of  before.  It 
was  prayer,  confession,  contrition,  and  earnest  peti- 
tion. The  prayer  ended,  he  soon  announced  his 
text.  It  related  to  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God 
in  creation,  and  his  goodness  in  redemption.  The 
sermon  was  a  close,  profound,  masterly  argument,  a 
priori  and  a  posteriori,  to  prove  the  existence,  the 
power,  the  omnipresence,  and  omniscience  of  God, 
and  his  goodness  in  redemption.  The  whole  empire 
of  learning  and  thought  seemed  to  lie  at  his  feet. 
At  will  he  gathered  resources  from  the  kingdom  of 
27 


814  METHODISM  JN  ILLINOIS. 

matter  and  mind,  from  the  ocean,  from  the  clouds, 
from  the  firmament  above  and  the  earth  beneath. 
He  seemed  as  familiar  with  the  whole  planetary 
world  as  you  are  with  your  flower  garden.  He 
strayed  with  ease  along  the  milky  way  as  a  famil- 
iar path  often  trod,  and  seemed  at  home  in  the  re- 
motest regions  of  space,  where  even  angels  stand 
abashed.  Never  was  language  more  chaste,  classic, 
and  elegant,  or  argument  more  logical  and  conclu- 
sive, than  those  employed  in  that  sermon.  But 
what  of  the  effect  on  the  audience?  That  was  the 
proper  exponent  of  the  merit  of  the  sermon  and  the 
orator.  The  effect  was  his  highest  eulogium.  Dur- 
ing the  delivery  of  the  discourse  there  was  no  loud 
shouting,  no  boisterous  applause,  no  sleeping,  no 
walking  about  or  whispering  one  with  another; 
every  eye  was  fixed  on  the  speaker,  and  every  ear 
and  every  thought  was  chained  in  rapt  and  mute 
attention.  The  sermon  occupied  one  hour  and  three- 
quarters,  and  at  its  close  most  of  the  audience  were 
standing  upon  their  feet  leaning  forward,  eagerly 
gasping  for  more.  The  young  orator  retired  directly 
from  the  stand  to  the  preachers'  tent,  and,  as  if  ut- 
terly indifferent  to  praise  or  censure,  fell  into  a  pro- 
found sleep." 

After  his  expulsion  from  the  Church,  he  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  law,  first  in  Arkansas,  and  after- 
wards in  Chicago,  Illinois,  where  he  was  transferred 
from  the  bar  to  the  bench.  He  was  an  able  judge, 
and  as  an  eloquent  and  powerful  pleader  he  had  no 
superior.  He  united  with  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  died  in  1867. 


WILSON  PITNER.  315 

ANTHONY  F.  THOMPSON  was  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky, born  September  2,  1806.  In  his  twelfth 
year  he  was  eonvertecl  and  united  with  the  Church. 
After  laboring  some  years  as  a  local  preacher,  he 
was  received  into  the  conference  in  1829  and  ap- 
pointed to  Mt.  Curmel.  His  next  appointment  was 
Brownsville.  In  1831  he  was  sent  to  Corydon,  In- 
diana, and  falling  into  the  Indiana  Conference,  was 
appointed  the  next  year  to  Terre  Haute  Circuit. 
Here  he  labored  only  about  three  months,  when  he 
was  stricken  by  paralysis  and  forced  to  abandon  the 
"work.  He  lingered  until  the  next  Spring,  and  died 
in  peace  May  19,  1833.  "He  was  regarded  as  a 
more  talented  man  than  his  brother,  Samuel  II. 
Thompson,  and  more  brilliant  in  the  pulpit."4 

If  Alfred  W.  Arrington  was  the  most  eloquent 
man  ever  received  in  the  Illinois  Conference,  WIL- 
SON PITNER  was  certainly  the  most  eccentric.  He 
was  born  on  Cedar  Creek,  Wilson  County,  Tennes- 
see, in  the  Spring  of  1806.  He  had  six  brothers 
and  five  sisters,  who  with  his  parents  afterward  be- 
came members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
But  at  the  time  of  his  conversion,  which  occurred 
when  he  was  about  sixteen,  his  parents  were  irre- 
ligious, and  much  opposed  to  the  noisy  religion  of 
the  Methodists,  through  whose  instrumentality  he 
was  led  to  the  Savior.  Soon  after  his  conversion 
he  joined  the  Church ;  but  so  ignorant  was  he  that 
he  thought  every  one  uniting  with  it  had  to  pay 
quarterage,  which  he  understood  to  be  a  quarter  of 
a  dollar;  and  so,  when  he  went  forward  to  give  his 

4  Rev.  N.  P.  Heath. 


316  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

hand  to  the  preacher,  imagining,  perhaps,  that  he 
might  not  be  regarded  as  suitable  for  admission,  he 
cried  out  with  confidence,  "  I  Ve  got  the  money  I" 
At  a  Bible  meeting  in  Belleville,  in  1848,  he  related 
this  of  himself: 

"  Soon  after  I  joined  the  Church  I  felt  that  I 
must  have  a  Bible.  I  had  never  owned  one,  but  I 
could  read,  and  was  determined  to  have,  a  Bible  of 
my  own.  Father  had  given  me  a  little  piece  of 
ground  to  work  for  myself.  I  put  it  in  cotton ;  and 
when  it  was  gathered  I  took  it  to  Nashville  and 
sold  it,  and  with  the  money  I  received  I  bought  a 
Bible.  I  was  so  delighted  I  could  hardly  contain 
myself.  I  put  it  in  my  bosom  and  hurried  home 
as  fast  as  I  could  to  get  an  opportunity  to  read  it. 
But  I  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  taking  it 
out  of  my  bosom  and  smelling  of  it,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  that  it  smelt  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Whilst  yet  a  youth,  one  night,  after  he  had  re- 
tired, like  Samuel,  he  heard  a  voice  calling  to  him, 
"  Wilson,  Wilson !"  He  got  up  and  searched  the 
room  to  find  out  where  the  voice  came  from,  but 
could  find  nothing.  After  a  while  he  got  courage 
to  speak,  when  the  voice  said  to  him,  "  Go,  preach 
my  Gospel."  But  he  felt  that  he  could  not  preach. 
He  had  but  the  rudiments  of  an  education.  His 
father  had  threatened  him  severely,  commanding 
him  to  desist  from  his  prayers  and  songs  of  praise. 
But  the  Spirit  of  God  wrought  powerfully  upon 
him,  and  impelled  him  not  only  to  attend  the  meet- 
ings himself,  but  to  hold  meetings  at  which  not  a 
few  were  awakened  and  converted. 


LUDICROUS  INCIDENT.  317 

While  thus  hesitating  about  preaching,  he  felt 
moved  to  pray  in  his  father's  family,  but  he  was 
afraid  to  ask  permission.  So,  late  one  evening  he 
retired  a  little  distance  from  the  house  to  pray,  and 
while  there  wrestling  with  the  angel  of  the  cove- 
nant, both  the  parents  were  powerfully  convinced 
of  sin,  and  sent  for  him  to  come  to  the  house  and 
pray  for  them.  As  he  received  this  message  he  was 
so  overcome  that  he  felt  himself  unworthy  to  walk 
to  the  house,  but  falling  on  the  ground,  he  rolled 
nearly  all  the  way.  With  two  of  his  sisters,  who 
had  by  this  time  found  the  Savior,  he  labored  with 
the  old  folks  till  a  late  hour,  when  both  were  hap- 
pily converted  to  God. 

In  1829,  having  received  license  to  preach,  he 
was  received  on  trial  in  the  Illinois  Conference  and 
appointed  to  Shoal  Creek  Circuit  as  junior  preacher 
with  William  Chambers.  He  did  considerable  good, 
but  his  unlettered  mind,  his  peculiar  and  awkward 
deportment,  his  impulsive  and  erratic  mode  of 
speech,  and  his  very  singular  illustrations  in  the 
pulpit,  while  taking  finely  with  some,  were  strongly 
objected  to  by  others  as  unbecoming  in  a  minister  of 
the  Gospel,  and  the  result  was  that  at  the  next  ses- 
sion of  the  conference  he  was  discontinued. 

He  had  some  ludicrous  adventures  this  year,  to 
one  or  two  of  which  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  refer. 
The  following  was  related  by  himself  to  the  writer 
as  they  were  returning  together  from  conference  at 
Nashville  in  1844,  and  passing  very  near  the  place 
where  the  circumstance  occurred.  He  heard  that  a 
little  town  had  sprung  up  in  the  Okaw  timber  in 


318  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

which  the  Gospel  had  never  been  preached.  Greatly 
desirous  of  being  a  pioneer  preacher  to  some,  he 
accordingly  sent  them  an  appointment.  When  he 
reached  the  place  he  found  the  whole  population 
assembled  in  a  little  log  school-house,  and  preached 
to  them  as  best  he  could.  After  the  sermon  he  be- 
gan singing  (he  was  a  good  singer),  and,  as  was 
common  in  those  days,  he  thought  he  would  go 
through  the  congregation  and  shake  hands  with  the 
people.  It  happened  that  the  first  person  to  whom 
he  offered  his  hand  was  a  Connecticut  dancing  mas- 
ter who  had  recently  come  to  the  place  and  started 
a  dancing  school,  and  who,  by  the  people,  was 
looked  on  as  the  very  pink  of  politeness.  Now, 
the  dancing  master  had  never  seen  any  such  thing 
as  this  Western  hand-shaking  in  meeting,  and  so, 
when  the  preacher  offered  his  hand,  thinking  that 
it  was  a  friendly  way  of  taking  his  leave  of  the 
congregation,  he  rose,  and  with  a  polite  bow,  took 
his  hand  and  said,  "  Good-bye,  sir."  This  was  al- 
most too  much  for  the  preacher's  gravity.  He  had 
to  keep  on  singing  to  avoid  bursting  out  in  laugh- 
ter. The  next  one  he  approached  was  a  raw  native, 
who  took  it  for  granted  that  the  dancing  master's 
move  was  the  latest  fashion,  and  so  he  jumped  up, 
and  with  an  awkward  bow,  cried,  "Good-bye,  sir." 
By  this  time  the  preacher  was  almost  upset,  and  it 
was  only  by  persisting  in  singing,  at  the  top  of  his 
voice  that  he  kept  from  screaming  with  laughter. 
But  he  thought  it  would  not  do  to  stop  then,  and 
so  he  went  on  through  the  male  portion  of  the  con- 
gregation, every  one,  however,  imitating  the  exam- 


ANECDOTE.  319 

pie  of  the  dancing  master.  As  soon  as  he  had  re- 
ceived the  "  good-bye,  sir/'  of  the  last  one,  he  seized 
his  hat  and  saddle-bags,  and  without  dismissing  the 
congregation,  left  the  house,  hastily  mounted  his 
horse  and  rode  away,  convulsed  with  laughter,  and 
never  had  the  courage  to  visit  them  again. 

The  following  is  related  by  his  brother-in-law, 
Rev.  J.  H.  Dickens:  "It  was  during  this  year  he 
was  called  on  by  his  presiding  elder,  S.  H.  Thompson, 
to  exhort  at  a  camp-meeting,  held  below  Carlisle, 
in  a  sassafras  grove.  The  meeting  had  been  a  drag, 
and  so  Pitner  was  put  up  as  a  kind  of  forlorn  hope, 
to  exhort  and  move  the  masses,  as  he  often  did.  He 
pulled  string  after  string,  but  there  was  no  move. 
At  last  he  undertook  to  tell  sinners  how  strong  the 
Lord  was  with  whom  they  were  trifling;  as  a  climax 
he  said,  '  I  would  n't  be  surprised  if  God  Almighty 
would  come  down  in  a  thundergust  of  woodpeckers 
and  sweep  all  these  sassafras  bushes  and  sinners 
down  to  hell  together,'  and  just  then  he  grasped  one 
of  the  saplings  and  shook  it,  when  down  fell  the 
top  of  it,  for  it  was  dead,  upon  the  people  in  the 
altar.  The  effect  was  fearful.  The  people  thought 
they  were  going  down.  The  women  screamed  ter- 
ribly. But  in.  a  little  while  the  reaction  came,  the 
excitement  was  felt  to  be  any  thing  but  religious, 
and  the  meeting  closed  without  a  mourner.  Wil- 
son's mortification  was  indescribable.  He  felt  that 
he  had  been  led  into  over-acting,  and  heartily 
ashamed,  he  got  away  as  soon  as  he  could." 

At  the  instance  of  his  friends  he  concluded  he 
would  go  to  school  for  a  while  and  acquire  an  edu- 


320  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

cation  that  he  might  be  better  fitted  for  the  work 
of  the  ministry.  He  accordingly  attended  Illinois 
College  at  Jacksonville,  with  his  talented  cousin, 
Peter  R.  Borcin;  but  after  remaining  six  months, 
he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  continue  longer.  And 
when  asked  the  reason,  he  replied,  "  It  will  be  lost 
time  and  money,  for  my  head  is  chock-full  of  learn- 
ing, and  as  fast  as  I  get  a  new  idea  in  my  head,  it 
crowds  out  an  old  one."  He  felt,  too,  as  he  told 
the  writer,  that  it  was  wicked  for  him  to  stay  there 
in  college,  when  souls  Avere  perishing  all  about  him 
whom  he  might  direct  to  Christ.  Leaving  the 
school  then,  he  was  employed  by  the  presiding  elder 
on  the  Athens  Circuit  for  the  remainder  of  the  year, 
and  in  1832  he  was  again  received  on  trial  in  the 
conference,  and  appointed  to  Carrollton  Circuit,  with 
John  Van  Cleve  as  his  senior.  For  the  two  follow- 
ing years  he  was  alone  on  the  Pittsfield  Circuit.  In 
1835  he  was  sent  to  Rushville,  but  traveled  the 
circuit  only  part  of  the  year,  being  removed  by  his 
presiding  elder  to  the  Black  Hawk  purchase  in 
Iowa,  Dr.  John  P.  Richmond  being  employed  for 
the  remainder  of  the  year.  In  1836  his  appoint- 
ment was  Canton;  1837,  Buckhart;  1838,  Canton 
again;  1839,  Vermillion;  1840,  Mercer  Mission; 
1841,  Pcoria  Circuit;  1842,  Carthage;  1843,  Ran- 
dolph; 1844  and  1845,  Jacksonville  Circuit;  1846, 
Urbana;  1847,  Charleston.  In  1848,  at  the  resus- 
citation of  the  Missouri  Conference,  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  it,  and  appointed  to  the  St.  Louis  County 
Mission,  in  which  he  labored  two  years.  In  1850 
he  was  re-transferred  to  the  Illinois  Conference  and 


CHARA  CTER1ST1CS.  321 

appointed  to  Ewington,  and  the  next  year  to  Mt. 
Pulaski.  At  the  close  of  the  year  he  located  and 
soon  afterwards  removed  to  California.  In  1859 
he  was  readmitted  in  the  California  Conference, 
traveled  in  succession  the  Colusi,  Cosumnes,  and 
Michigan  Bar  charges,  and  in  1862  again  located. 
He  afterwards  removed  to  Washington  Territory,* 
where  he  closed  his  labors  and  sufferings  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1880. 

Mr.  Pitner  was,  probably,  less  influenced  by 
artificial  rules  than  any  one  who  ever  traveled  in 
Illinois.  In  all  his  actions  and  addresses  he  was  a 
perfect  child  of  nature.  He  looked  at  things  as  no 
other  man  did ;  and  whatever  thought  came  into  his 
mind,  no  matter  how  odd  or  incongruous  or  foreign 
to  the  occasion  or  subject,  would  be  very  likely  to 
find  utterance.  He  was  preaching  once  to  a  large 
audience,  and  with  much  freedom,  when  he  sud- 
denly stopped  and  quaintly  remarked,  "  Brethren, 
I  had  a  good  idea,  but  somehow  it's  gone.  We'll 
sit  down  and  sing  a  verse  or  two,  and  it  will  come 
back  again."  So  he  sat  down,  started  a  familiar 
hymn,  and  in  a  few  moments  sprang  up,  crying, 
"  I  told  you  it  would  come  back,  I  have  it  now," 
and  went  on  with  his  sermon  as  though  nothing 
had  happened.  Of  course  his  hearers  were  greatly 
amused,  but  on  the  whole  the  effect  was  good. 

He  was  so  constituted  that  he  could  not  preach  at 
all  if  there  happened  to  be  any  thing  very  strange  or 
novel  before  him.  "  I  was  present  once,"  says  Mr. 
Dickens,  "  when  he  preached  in  his  brother's  house. 
There  was  hanging  just  before  him  a  new-fashioned 


322  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

pin-cushion.  His  eye  fell  upon  it  as  he  was  preach- 
ing. He  tried  for  a  few  moments  to  preach  while 
attempting  to  make  out  what  it  was,  when  he  sud- 
denly stopped,  and  asked  what  sort  of  a  thing  it 
was,  saying  that  he  had  never  seen  such  a  droll 
thing  in  his  life.  At  his  request  it  was  removed, 
*and  then  he  proceeded  with  his  sermon  with  a  good 
degree  of  liberty ;  but  it  was  not  easy  for  the 
amused  hearers  to  bring  back  their  feeling  to  a  de- 
votional frame  again." 

On  another  occasion,  while  preaching  at  a  prir 
vate  house,  after  he  had  commenced  his  sermon, 
he  espied  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room  a  very 
oddly  constructed  spinning-wheel.  For  a  little  while 
he  tried  to  divert  his  mind  from  it,  but  the  more 
he  tried  the  more  confused  he  became,  until  at 
length  he  suddenly  paused  in  his  sermon,  and  ad- 
dressing the  man  of  the  house,  said,  "  Brother,  I 
wish  you  would  take  that  wheel  away.  I  never 
saw  such  an  ugly  looking  thing  before.  I  could 
make  a  better  wheel  than  that  myself."  So,  amid 
the  laughter  that  such  a  ludicrous  remark  would 
produce,  the  brother  removed  the  wheel  from  the 
house,  and  the  preacher  resumed  his  sermon. 

While  preaching  in  a  country  school-house  by 
the  side  of  a  public  road  on  the  Jacksonville  Cir- 
cuit, one  warm  Summer  afternoon,  he  was  much 
annoyed  by  the  antics  of  a  little  dog  just  in  front 
of  the  desk  behind  which  he  stood.  Still  preach- 
ing, he  stepped  from  behind  the  desk,  seized  the 
dog  by  the  back  of  his  neck,  deliberately  walked  to 
the  open  door  and  threw  the  little  beast  as  far  into 


ECCENTRICITIES.  323 

the  road  as  he  could,  and  deliberately  marched  back 

to  the  desk,  preaching  all   the   time  as  hard  as  he 

I     could,  as   though   his   act   was   nothing   out   of  the 

[    way.     The  congregation  had  been  a  little   drowsy 

before,  but  that  act  thoroughly  aroused   them,  and 

if  no  spiritual  good  was  accomplished,  he  certainly 

had  the  wakeful  attention  of  those  present  during 

the  rest  of  the  service. 

At  another  time,  while  exhorting  after  a  sermon 
preached  by  G.  W.  Robbins,  in  a  grove,  in  the 
midst  of  his  exhortation  he  happened  to  look  up, 
and  saw  on  one  of  the  trees  before  him  a  limb  with 
a  peculiar  crook  in  it.  He  suddenly  stopped  in  his 
exhortation,  and  said,  "  That  limb  would  make  a 
first  rate  saddle-tree."  Of  course  none,  sought 
religion  as  the  effect  of  that  exhortation. 

He  was  a  great  hunter,  and  in  some  of  his  early 
charges  drew  no  small  portion  of  his  support  from 
his  fishing  and  trapping.  He  was  particularly 
expert  in  finding  bee-trees  and  securing  the  honey 
lodged  in  them.  Once  at  a  camp-meeting  in  Ful- 
ton County,  he  was  put  up  to  exhort,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, arouse  the  people,  who  seemed  quite  indif- 
ferent to  their  spiritual  interests.  While  exhorting 
at  the  top  of  his  voice,  he  suddenly  paused,  and, 
pointing  in  a  certain  direction,  cried  out,  "There 
went  a  bee  \"  There  were  no  seekers  of  religion  at 
that  exhortation.  Once,  while  immersing  a  person 
in  one  of  the  streams  in  the  military  tract,  just  as 
he  was  about  to  plunge  him  under  the  water,  and 
had  commenced  the  formula,  "I  baptize  thce,"  his 
eye  caught  sight  of  a  bee  ;  he  paused  for  a  little 


324  ME  THODIHM  IN  IL  L  IN  018. 

while,  until  he  had  got  the  exact  direction  in  which 
the  bee  was  flying,  and  then  completed  the  cere- 
mony. And  as  soon  as  possible  after  he  came  from 
the  water  he  started  in  search  of  the  bee-tree. 

In  the  central  portion  of  Illinois  there  is  a  weed 
vulgarly  called  cuckle-burr,  that  is  a  great  annoy- 
ance in  the  fields  and  gardens.  One  Sabbath  af- 
ternoon, in  the  .Summer  of  1845,  the  writer  had 
preached,  and  called  on  Brother  Pitner  to  pray  at 
the  close  of  the  sermon.  It  seems  that  there  was 
something  in  it  with  which  he  was  pleased,  and  with 
more  than  ordinary  fervor  he  prayed,  "  O  Lord, 
bless  the  sermon  we  have  just  heard,  bless  it  might- 
ily; make  it  the  means  of  doing  great  harm  to  the 
devil's  kingdom ;  O  Lord,  make  it  like  cuckle-burrs 
in  the  devil's  garden." 

But  despite  these  eccentricities,  he  was  a  deeply 
devoted  and  conscientious  Christian.  Perhaps  no 
member  of  the  conference  was  more  faithful  and 
regular  in  his  private  and  family  devotions  than  he; 
for  he  firmly  believed  that  if  he  neglected  these 
duties  God  would  send  some  great  calamity  upon 
him.  Though  illiterate,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of 
the  term,  for  it  is  said  that  he  declared  he  had 
never  read  but  three  books  in  his  life,  the  Bible, 
the  Hymn-book,  and  the  Discipline,  his  close  and 
constant  study  of  the  Scriptures  had  given  him  a 
wonderful  command  of  language,  and  sometimes 
when  preaching,  and  more  frequently  in  exhorta- 
tion, his  language  would  not  only  be  grammatically 
correct,  but  the  most  appropriate  words  would 
spring  forth  to  express  his  ideas,  and  thoughts  the 


STYLE  OF  PREACHING. 


325 


most  sublime  would  roll  from  him  in  measured  ca- 
dence like  the  grandest  blank  verse,  reaching  the 
souls  of  the  most  cultivated  as  well  as  the  most 
illiterate  of  his  hearers,  and  stirring  them  to  their 
profoundest  depths.  There  were  times,  indeed,  when 
he  seemed  to  be  inspired,  and  when  the  people  felt 
that  it  was  not  Pitner  who  was  speaking,  but  God, 
who  was  speaking  through  him. 

At  a  conference  in  Springfield  he  was  appointed 
to  speak  at  the  missionary  anniversary  and  take  the 
collection.  The  railroad  from  Naples  to  Spring- 
field was  then  in  operation,  the  cars  being  drawn  by 
mules.  After  the  speaker  had  portrayed  as  best  he 
could  the  necessity  of  saving  the  world  and  the 
grandeur  of  the  work,  he  compared  the  missionary 
machinery  to  a  long  train  of  cars,  heavily  freighted 
with  all  the  appliances  of  salvation.  "  But  where," 
he  asked,  "is  the  motive  power?  Brethren,  I  tell 
you  it  has  to  go.  This  grand  train  must  go,  and 
it  will  go,  for  God  Almighty  himself  is  hitched  to  it." 
Rough  and  irreverent  as  it  was,  the  eifect  was  elec- 
trical ;  shouts  were  heard  all  over  the  house,  and  the 
collection  was  a  grand  one. 

Dr.  Cartwright  describes  a  camp-meeting  in  Ful- 
ton County,  at  which  Pitner  was  present,  and  says 
of  him:  "We  had  a  very  singular  and  remarkable 
man  among  us,  a  traveling  preacher  in  the  Illinois 
Conference;  his  name  \vas  Wilson  Pitner.  He  was 
at  this  camp-meeting.  He  was  uneducated,  and  it 
seemed  impossible  for  him  to  learn  ;  but,  notwith- 
standing his  want  of  learning,  and  in  common  he 
was  an  ordinary  preacher,  yet  at  times,  as  we  say  in 


326  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

the  back-woods,  when  he  swung  clear  there  were 
very  few  that  could  excel  him  in  the  pulpit,  and, 
perhaps,  he  was  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  pow- 
erful exhorters  that  was  in  the  land.  On  Monday 
he  came  to  me  and  desired  me  to  let  him  preach  at 
11  o'clock,  saying,  'I  have  faith  to  believe  that  God 
will  this  day  convert  many  of  these  rowdies  and  per- 
secutors.' I  consented,  and  he  preached  with  great 
liberty  and  power.  Nearly  the  whole  congregation 
were  powerfully  moved,  as  he  closed  by  calling  for 
every  rowdy  and  persecutor  to  meet  him  in  the  altar; 
for,  said  he,  'I  have  faith  to  believe  that  God  will 
convert  every  one  of  you  that  will  come  and  kneel 
at  the  place  of  prayer.'  There  was  a  general  rush 
for  the  altar,  and  many  of  our  persecutors,  and 
those  who  had  interrupted  us  in  the  forepart  of 
the  meeting,  came  and  fell  on  their  knees  and  cried 
aloud  for  mercy;  and  it  is  certainly  beyond  my 
power  to  describe  the  scene ;  but  more  than  fifty 
souls  were  converted  to  God  that  day  and  night. 
Our  meeting  continued  for  several  days,  and  about 
ninety  professed  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  their  sins, 
most  of  whom  joined  the  Church,  and  much  good 
was  accomplished,  although  we  waded  through  trib- 
ulation to  accomplish  it.  Such  success  often  attended 
the  Gospel  labors  of  this  brother." 

"  In  1841,"  says  Mr.  Beggs,  "  W.  Pitner  was 
appointed  to  Peoria  Circuit,  and  held  a  camp-meet- 
ing at  Princcville.  I  had  the  privilege  of  attend- 
ing this  camp-meeting.  It  was  increasingly  pros- 
perous till  Sabbath  morning,  when  W.  Pitner  was 
to  preach  and  I  to  exhort  and  call  up  the  mourners. 


AN  EFFECTIVE  SERMON.  327 

The  preacher  began  in  his  odd  way  of  portraying 
the  downward  path  of  the  sinner.  His  apt  and  un- 
varnished illustration  of  a  sinner  on  the  way  to  hell 
excited  laughter  all  over  the  house.  Every  one 
seemed  too  merry  and  trifling  to  have  any  good  re- 
sult from  such  a  sermon,  and  most  of  us  gave  up 
all  expectations  of  inviting  up  the  mourners  at  its 
close.  I  felt  that  I  could  not  exhort  after  that  ser- 
mon, and  told  the  elder  so;  when  all  of  a  sudden 
he  changed  to  one  of  the  most  terrific  descriptions 
of  the  finally  impenitent,  and  the  waitings  of  the 
damned,  till  it  seemed  as  if  the  sound  of  those  wail- 
ings  reached  our  ears,  and  we  could  almost  feel  the 
darkness  of  despair  brooding  over  the  sinner,  and 
see  his  tearless  eyeballs  rolling  in  their  burning 
sockets,  and  his  poor,  unsheltered  soul  cry  out,  'Lost, 
lost,  lost!'  All  eyes  seemed  as  if  turned  toward  the 
yawning  pit,  and  the  deep  sighs  heaved  from  a 
thousand  breasts,  l  Lord,  save !  Lord,  save  the  sin- 
ner!' And  then  he  pointed  to  the  Savior  as  the 
sinner's  only  refuge,  telling  how,  through  him,  there 
was  yet  hope ;  that  all  might  come  and  receive  par- 
don, and  that  the  joys  of  heaven  were  freely  offered, 
without  money  and  without  price.  I  have  never 
witnessed  another  such  a  scene.  It  was  as  if  they 
realized  that  the  judgment  was  near  at  hand.  Some 
fell,  and  lay  all  night  and  cried  for  mercy;  others 
screamed  as  if  hell  was  moving  from  beneath  to 
meet  them  at  their  coming.  And  how  beautifully 
he  cleared  up  the  way  and  invited  the  sinners  to  the 
altar.  Such  as  had  strength  came  rushing  and  fairly 
tumbling  along,  some,  with  uplifted  voices,  crying, 


328  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

( Thou  son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  us.'  In  the 
midst  of  all  this  the  preacher's  mellowing  tones  and 
his  invitation  to  come  to  Jesus,  beggar  all  descrip- 
tion. The  cries  for  mercy,  the  bursting  forth  of 
praise,  and  the  preacher's  voice  sounding  out  over 
all  with  its  melting  tones  of  pardon,  produced  a 
scene,  I  imagine,  like  that  of  God's  ancient  people 
when  laying  the  foundation  of  the  second  temple, 
when  the  old  men  '  wept  with  a  loud  shout,  so  that 
they  could  not  discern  the  noise  of  the  shouts  of 
joy  from  the  voice  of  the  weeping  people.'  This 
camp-meeting  ended  with  glorious  results,  which 
may  be  seen  to  this  day." 

He  was  appointed  to  preach  one  Sunday  night 
at  a  camp-meeting  in  Hancock  County.  There  had 
been  a  good  religious  interest,  and  some  souls  had 
been  converted.  After  supper  the  men  and  women 
had  been  out  in  the  woods  holding  prayer-meetings, 
each  on  its  own  side  of  the  ground.  As  the  horn 
blew  for  service,  rejoicing  in  God  they  came  in  from 
their  prayer- meetings  and  met  at  the  head  of  the 
main  aisle.  As  they  marched  up  to  take  their  seats 
on  either  side  of  it,  Brother  Pitner,  who  was  already 
in  the  pulpit,  seized  the  horn,  which  hung  on  one 
side  of  it,  and  blew  a  blast  loud  and  long,  and  then 
grasping  the  Bible,  and  holding  it  open  toward  the 
moving  crowd,  he  cried  out  with  a  voice  like  a 
trumpet,  "Hallelujah,  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent 
reigneth."  The  people,  already  powerfully  excited, 
seemed  now  to  be  overwhelmed,  some  fell ;  when 
the  preacher  blew  another  blast,  and  again  cried, 
"  Hallelujah,  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth." 


STYLE  IN  PREACHING.  329 

Saints  shouted  aloud,  sinners  began  to  cry  for  mercy. 
The  preacher  leaped  from  the  pulpit  and  gave  a 
brief  invitation  to  seekers  of  salvation.  Multitudes 
rushed  to  the  altar,  and  multitudes  were  that  night 
led  to  the  Savior,  how  many  eternity  will  reveal. 
Brother  Pitner  told  the  writer  afterwards  that  while 
he  had  intended  to  take  as  a  text  the  words  he  ut- 
tered, and  while  the  Bible  was  open  at  the  passage, 
the  thought  of  the  trumpet  flashed  into  his  mind 
the  moment  he  seized  it,  and  that  as  he  stood  there 
holding  the  open  Bible  before  the  congregation,  he 
felt  flashes  of  power  darting  out  from  the  ends  of 
his  fingers,  and  his  whole  frame  was  convulsed  as 
if  from  the  shocks  of  a  battery. 

"  His  conversion,"  says  Mr.  Dickens,  "  was  clear 
and  powerful.  His  call  to  preach  was  convincing 
and  even  miraculous.  His  preaching,  when  he 
swung  clear,  as  he  expressed  it,  was  masterly  and 
often  overwhelming.  When  energized  with  the 
Spirit,  he  was  the  most  powerful  and  successful  ex- 
horter  I  ever  knew,  and  thousands,  I  doubt  not, 
will  own  him  in  heaven  as  their  spiritual  father. 
His  preaching  and  exhortations  were  unlike  any 
other  man's.  He  was  always  original.  A  true  Ben- 
jaminite,  he  always  hit  on  the  left  side."  The  wri- 
ter was  his  colleague  in  1844  on  the  Jacksonville 
Circuit,  and  heard  him  frequently.  While  in  his 
sermons  he  often  failed,  at  times  his  exhortations 
were  eloquent  and  powerful  beyond  description. 
With  the  simplicity  and  guilelessness  of  a  child,  he 
possessed  the  intellect  of  a  giant,  and  had  that  in- 
tellect been  cultivated,  he  must  have  been  one  of 
23 


330  MET  HOD  MM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

the  most  powerful  men  in  the  Church.  He  was  an 
original  thinker.  While  his  illustrations — and  his 
addresses  abounded  in  them — were  sometimes  crude 
and  sometimes  ridiculous,  they  were  often  the  most 
sublime  that  the  mind  could  grasp,  and  clothed  in 
language  so  appropriate,  beautiful,  and  poetic  that 
the  most  fastidious  critic  could  find  no  fault  in  them. 
Of  the  business  of  the  Church  he  had  very  little 
idea.  His  forte  was  to  save  souls  and  to  build  up 
the  Church.  A  man  of  wonderful  faith,  at  times 
he  was  yet  subject  to  deep  depression  of  spirit,  when 
he  thought  he  had  not  a  single  friend  in  the  world. 
When  he  attempted  to  speak  in  his  own  strength  he 
always  failed,  but  when  he  spoke  in  dependence  on 
God,  and  feeling  that  without  divine  help  he  must 
fail,  then  the  Spirit  seemed  to  speak  through  him 
as  he  spoke  through  the  prophets  of  old,  and  mighty 
results  followed. 

For  several  years  before  he  died  he  was  able  to 
preach  but  little.  But  he  remained  deeply  pious, 
loving  the  Church,  with  all  her  ministers,  members, 
and  institutions,  to  the  last.  He  was  ready  when 
the  summons  came,  and  died  in  full  faith  and 
hope. 

LORENZO  EDWARDS  traveled  but  one  year  in  the 
Illinois  Conference.  He  had  been  received  on  trial 
in  the  Missouri  Conference  in  1822,  and  appointed 
to  the  St.  Francis  Circuit,  but  at  the  close  of  the 
year  was  discontinued.  After  laboring  this  year  on 
the  Shelbyville  Circuit,  he  was  again  discontinued. 
He  settled  in  Scott  County  near  Winchester,  where 
he  long  labored  as  a  local  preacher. 


JAMES  BANKSON.  331 

JAMES  BANKSON  was  the  only  son  of  pious 
parents,  who  taught  him  to  know  the  Scriptures 
from  his  youth.  He  was  born  in  Oglethorpe 
County,  Georgia,  January  8,  1795,  and  when  about 
eight  years  of  age,  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Illinois.  "When  about  fourteen  he  embraced  religion, 
and  it  is  said  of  him  that  when  he  was  converted, 
he  sprang  from  the  mourner's  bench,  and  at  the 
top  of  his  voice  shouted,  "  Whoop-pee,  hallelujah ! 
Jesus,  Jesus !"  Though  his  educational  advantages 
were  but  limited  in  boyhood,  he  yet  possessed  an 
insatiable  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  from  the  time 
of  his  conversion  applied  himself  to  study  with 
such  diligence  that  he  became  a  respectable  scholar; 
and  before  his  death  acquired  a  good  knowledge  of 
Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  besides  making  consid- 
erable progress  in  the  sciences.  In  1821  he  com- 
menced his  intineraut  life  in  the  Missouri  Confer- 
ence, in  which  he  traveled  eight  years,  mostly  on 
frontier  circuits,  until  1829,  when  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Illinois  Conference,  and  assigned  to 
the  Apple  Creek  Circuit.  The  next  year  he  was 
appointed  to  Spoon  River.  But  while  crossing  a 
stream  on  the  ice,  in  the  "Winter  of  1830-1,  on 
his  way  to  Calvin  Hobart's,  his  horse  fell,  and  in- 
flicted on  him  an  injury  from  which  he  did  not 
recover.  In  the  Spring  he  returned  to  his  father's 
house,  and  was  never  afterwards  able  to  resume  his 
labors.  For  the  benefit  of  medical  aid,  he  was,  .of 
choice,  taken  to  the  St.  Louis  Hospital,  where  he  un- 
derwent a  painful  surgical  operation.  After  linger- 
ing in  pain  for  some  weeks,  lie  died  in  triutuph, 


332  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

September  4,  1831.  Though  his  beginning  in  the 
ministry  was  very  unpromising,  by  his  diligence  in 
study  and  fidelity  to  God,  he  became  a  very  elo- 
quent and  powerful  preacher.  It  is  related  by  one 
who  was  present  when  he  made  his  first  attempt  to 
preach,  soon  after  taking  his  text,  his  embarrass- 
ment quite  overcame  him.  He  stopped  short,  sat 
down  in  the  pulpit,  and  crossing  his  legs,  shook  as 
if  he  had  an  ague.  There  was,  however,  that  in 
him  that  was  not  to  be  discouraged  or  broken  down. 
Though  he  retained,  in  some  degree,  his  awkward- 
ness in  gesture  and  manner,  he  yet  became  "  a  pol- 
ished arrow  in  the  Gospel  quiver,  a  burning  and 
shining  light  in  the  Methodist  Church,  and  when 
he  died  he  had  few  equals  in  the  Illinois  Con- 
ference." 5 

DAVID  B.  CARTER  was  born  in  Virginia  in 
1793.  He  removed  to  Tennessee  before  he  was 
married,  which  occurred  when  he  was  nineteen 
years  old.  He  was  converted  soon  after  his  mar- 
riage, and  united  with  the  Church.  At  this  time 
"  he  could  not  read  a  hymn  intelligibly,  but  believ- 
ing God  had  called  him  to  preach  the  Gospel,  he 
industriously  applied  himself  to  books,  and  soon 
learned  to  read  very  well."6  In  1827  he  moved  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  in  San  gam  on  County.  He  was 
received  on  trial  in  the  Illinois  Conference  in  1829, 
and  appointed  to  Sangamon  Circuit,  which  he  trav- 
eled two  years  as  junior  preacher,  the  first  under 
Smith  L.  Robinson,  and  the  second  with  Jesse 
Haile  as  his  senior.  In  1831  he  was  appointed  to 

6Rev.  E.  M.  West.  6Dr.  Ca it w right. 


DAVID  B.  CARTER.  333 

Spoon  River,  and  the  next  year  to  Fort  Edward 
Mission.  In  1833  his  appointment  was  Quincy, 
and  for  the  two  following  years  he  again  labored  on 
the  Fort  Edward  Charge.  In  1836  he  was  sent  to 
Rushville  Circuit,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year,  his 
health  having  failed,  he  was  granted  a  superannu- 
ated relation.  The  next  year  he  was  placed  on  the 
supernumerary  list,  and  assigned  in  that  relation  to 
Rushville  again.  But  consumption  having  fastened 
on  him,  he  was,  at  the  conference  session  of  1839, 
again  placed  on  the  superannuated  list,  on  which 
he  remained  until  he  died,  in  great  peace  and  tri- 
umph, October  28,  1840.  Brother  Carter  was  not 
a  great  or  brilliant  preacher  or  a  profound  theolo- 
gian, but  he  was,  as  his  memoir  states,  "  a  thorough 
reformation  preacher."  During  his  short  ministe- 
rial career  many  were  the  seals  to  his  ministry.  He 
was  a  very  industrious  preacher,  always  enlarging 
his  circuits  by  taking  in  new  appointments.  He 
was  much  beloved  in  life  and  greatly  lamented  in 
death.  In  Rushville,  his  last  field  of  labor,  and 
where  he  died,  he  is  "  affectionately  remembered  as 
a  faithful  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  an 
excellent  preacher,  an  industrious  pastor,  and  a  wise 
counselor;  and  to  his  labors  the  Church  is  greatly 
indebted  for  its  permanent  and  efficient  organiza- 
tion. To  him  must  be  accorded  the  credit  of  organ- 
izing what  has  ever  been,  and  is  to-day,  the  glory 
and  pride  of  our  Church — the  Sabbath-school."7 

JAMES  LATTA  was  brought  up  in  Champaign 
County,  Ohio.  In  1824  he  removed  to  Illinois  and 

7  Dr.  W.  Stevenson. 


334  METHODISM  IN  1 L  L I XOLS. 

settled  in  Blooming  Grove,  where  the  present  city 
of  Bloomington  is.  In  1827,  while  the  Winuebugo 
Indians  were  making  some  trouble  in  the  mining 
regions,  he  obtained  a  position  in  connection  with 
the  militia,  and  was  afterwards  known  as  Colonel 
Latta.  Having  served  for  some  years  as  a  loeal 
preacher,  in  1829  he  was  received  on  trial  in  the 
Illinois  Conference,  and  appointed  to  the  Pcoria  Cir- 
cuit, tficn  including  the  region  in  which  Blooming- 
ton  is  situated,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  was 
discontinued  at  his  own  request.  He  was  a  good 
preacher,  very  effective,  and,  though  faithfully  and 
pointedly  telling  the  people  of  their  sins,  he  was 
yet  very  popular  and  greatly  beloved.  After  he 
ceased  traveling  he  removed  to  Indiana,  and  died 
near  Crab  Orchard.  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Latta,  of  the 
Ohio  Conference,  was  his  younger  brother. 

BENJAMIN  C.  STEPHKNSOX  was  converted  in  his 
sixteenth  year,  and  was  received  as  a  traveling 
preacher  in  the  Illinois  Conference  in  1827.  For 
two  years  he  traveled  in  Indiana,  and  in  1829  was 
appointed  to  the  Galena  Mission.  His  next  appoint- 
ment was  Madison,  Indiana.  In  1831  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  Indianapolis,  but  died  before  starting  for 
his  new  field  of  labor.  He  "  was  a  dignified  young 
man,  of  respectable  talents,  and  promised  much  to 
the  Church."8 

B  General  Minutes. 


CONFERENCE  OF  1830.  335 


vii. 

1830. 

WABASH  DISTRICT — George  Locke,  P.  E. 

Vermillion— James  McKean,  Jolm  E.  French. 
Para— William  H.  Smith. 

Wabash— Thomas  H.  Files,  Philip  T.  Cordier. 
Ml.  Carmd — John  Miller,  John  Fox,  Sup. 

•KASKASKIA  DISTRICT — Samuel  H.  Thompson,  P.  E. 
Xaskaskia — John  Van  Cleve. 
Brownsville  Mission — Anthony  F.  Thompson. 
Jonesboro  Mission — Boyd  Phelps. 
Golconda — James  P.  Crawford. 
McLeansboro — Amos  Prentice. 
Mi.   I'ernon — John  H.  Benson. 
Shoal  Creek — John  Dew,  Edward  R.  Ames. 
(SfcdfeywMe— Miles  Huffaker. 
Grand  Prairie  Mission — Simeon  Walker. 

SANGAMON  DISTRICT — Peter  Cartwright,  P.  E. 
Lebanon— Stith  M.  Otwell,  Win.  L.  Deneen. 
Apple  Creek— Wm.  D.  R.  Trotter,  Win.  H.  Askins. 
Jacksonville — John  Sinclair. 
Atlas — Spencer  W.  Hunter. 
Spoon  River — James  Bankson. 
Tazewill — Stephen  R.  Beggs. 
Salt  Creek—  Asahel  E.  Phelps. 
Sangamon — Jesse  Haile,  David  B.  Carter. 
Galena  Mission — Smith  L.  Robinson. 
Chicago  Mission — Jesse  Walker. 
Fort  Clark  Mission— Isaac  Scarritt. 

r\  AHE  seventh  session  of  the  Illinois  Conference  was 
A     held  at  Vincennes,  Indiana,  beginning  on  Thurs- 
day, September  30th,  and  closing  on  the  following 


336  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Thursday.  No  bishop  being  present,  Bishop  Rob- 
erts, whose  work  it  was,  having  been  taken  sick  at 
St.  Louis,  Samuel  H.  Thomson  was  elected  presi- 
dent, and  Calvin  W.  Ruter,  secretary.  Twenty- 
seven  preachers  were  present  at  the  opening  service. 
Two  sessions  were  held  each  day,  from  8  A.  M.  to 
12,  and  from  2  P.  M.  to  5. 

Seventeen  preachers  were  received  on  trial — John 
C.  Smith,  Spencer  W.  Hunter,  Isaac  Kimball,  Will- 
iam Taylor,  William  S.  Crissey,  Henry  S.  Talbot, 
John  Richey,  James  M.  Massey,  James  P.  Crawford, 
Josiah  H.  Hill,  Philip  T.  Cordier,  Simeon  Walker, 
Edward  R.  Ames,  Amos  Prentice,  William  D.  R. 
Trotter,  Daniel  M.  Murphy,  Ancil  Beach. 

Four  were  discontinued :  George  West,  Wilson 
Pitner,  Lorenzo  Edwards,  James  Latta. 

Four  were  granted  a  location  :  Thomas  Davis, 
William  Chambers,  Asa  D.  West,  Samuel  Bogart. 

Three  were  transferred  from  the  Kentucky  Con- 
ference to  this :  William  H.  Askiiis,  Samuel  Julian, 
and  John  Sinclair. 

One  had  died — Josiah  Patterson.  He  was  the 
first  member  of  the  Illinois  Conference,  who  had 
labored  in  Illinois,  to  be  called  to  his  reward.  Two 
others  had  died,  John  Cord  and  William  Cravens, 
but  their  labors  had  been  confined  to  Indiana. 

One  local  deacon  was  elected  to  elder's  orders, 
viz.:  James  Conwell. 

Twenty-two  local  preachers  were  elected  to  dea- 
con's orders :  James  P.  Crawford,  Jesse  Spradling, 
Harbert  P.  DeBuelle,  Joseph  Walker,  Joseph 
Springer,  Barton  Randle,  Robert  Thomas,  Levin 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  UNION.  337 

Green,  David  Bruner,  Jonathan  Prosser,  Francis 
Standaford,  Benjamin  Jones,  Thomas  Evans,  Hardy 
Cain,  Jeremiah  Sherwood,  Solomon  Cross,  Vance 
Jones,  George  M.  Hanson,  Stephen  C.  Rentfro,  Will- 
iam Echols,  Simeon  Walker,  Abraham  P.  Casey. 

As  no  bishop  was  present,  there  were,  of  course, 
no  ordinations.  The  persons  elected  received  cer- 
tificates of  the  fact  from  the  secretary  of  the  con- 
ference, and  were  ordained  whenever  they  could 
meet  with  a  bishop. 

A  draft  on  the  Book  Concern  was  ordered  for 
$300,  and  on  the  Chartered  Fund  for  $80. 

Among  the  miscellaneous  business  transacted 
was  the  following:  After  the  reading  of  a  communi- 
cation from  the  book  agents  at  New  York,  the.  fol- 
lowing was  adopted : 

"Resolved,  That  the  members  of  this  conference 
do  express  their  entire  satisfaction  with  the  report 
and  address  of  their  general  book  agents  at  New 
York,  and  that  we  will  do  all  in  our  power  to  aid 
them  in  publishing  and  circulating  our  very  valu- 
able books." 

The  subject  of  Sunday-schools  took  up  a  good 
deal  of  the  time  of  the  conference.  An  agent  of 
the  American  Sunday-school  Union  being  in  town, 
and  desiring  an  interview  with  the  conference,  was 
granted  permission  to  address  them  on  the  second 
afternoon  at  four  o'clock.  The  journal  states  that 
he  delivered  an  interesting  address,  and  immediately 
after  it  the  conference  adjourned.  The  whole  of 
the  Monday  afternoon  session  was  spent  in  discuss- 
ing a  resolution  on  the  subject,  which  was,  after  all, 
29 


338 


METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


laid  on  the  table.  The  next  day  the  resolution  was 
called  up,  and,  after  amendment,  a  motion  was  made 
to  postpone  the  subject  indefinitely,  but  before  this 
was  acted  on,  conference  adjourned.  Two  days 
afterwards  the  subject  was  again  called  up,  when 
the  motion  to  postpone  indefinitely  was  withdrawn, 
and  the  question  on  the  adoption  of  the  amended 
resolution  was  decided  in  the  negative.  It  is  un- 
fortunate that  the  journal  does  not  give  this  much 
discussed  resolution.  It  would  have  been  interest- 
ing as  showing  the  demands  of  the  Sunday-school 
Union  at  that  early  day,  and  the  feeling  of  the  con- 
ference in  regard  to  it. 

The  case  of  Thomas  Davis  was  called,  and  some 
objections  being  made  in  consequence  of  his  not 
having  attended  to  the  duties  of  a  traveling 
preacher  during  the  last  year,  it  was  moved  that 
he  be  deprived  of  his  ministerial  office,  and,  after 
some  discussion,  the  motion  was  withdrawn,  where- 
upon his  character  was  passed,  and  his  presiding 
elder  asked  and  received  for  him  a  location. 

A  small  sum  of  money,  unappropriated  by  the 
stewards,  was  directed  to  be  put  in  the  hands  of  the 
presiding  elders,  to  be  by  them  appropriated  to  those 
persons  whom  they  shall  deem  most  needy. 

A  report  having  been  sent  to  conference  by  Jesse 
Walker,  who  had  been  on  the  Fox  River  Mission 
the  past  year,  in  which  was  embraced  the  old  Pot- 
tawattomic  Mission,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
consider  it,  who  reported  as  follows :  "  That  they 
have  examined  the  documents,  and  find  that  they 
contain  a  report  of  his  missionary  labors  during  the 


MCKENDREE  COLLEGE.  339 

past  year,  and  the  amount  of  property  belonging  to 
the  old  Pottawattomie  Mission,  which  has  been  sold 
by  said  Walker,  together  with  a  list  of  property  be- 
longing to  said  mission,  remaining  unsold.  Your 
committee  would  say  that  they  are  fully  satisfied 
with  the  transactions  of  your  missionary,  and  report 
as  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  the  sum  of  $303,  which 
is  now  on  hand  and  at  the  disposal  of  the  confer- 
ence." Peter  Cartwright  was  appointed  a  committee 
to  settle  the  claims  against  the  Pottawattomie  Mis- 
sion, and  it  was  ordered  that  the  amount  raised  from 
the  sale  of  the  property  of  the  mission  now  on  hand 
be  appropriated  to  the  payment  of  those  claims  in 
an  equal  proportion  to  their  amount  as  far  as  the 
money  will  go. 

Two  appeal  cases  were  brought  before  the  con- 
ference. Benjamin  Watts,  a  local  elder,  appealed 
from  the  decision  of  the  quarterly  conference  of  the 
Lebanon  Circuit,  by  which  he  was  expelled  from 
the  Church ;  and,  after  an  examination  of  the  case, 
the  conference  confirmed  the  decision.  William  J. 
Mayo,  a  local  elder,  appealed  from  the  decision  of 
the  quarterly  conference  of  Paris  Circuit,  by  which 
he  was  expelled.  The  case  was  sent  back  to  the 
quarterly  conference  for  a  new  trial  on  the  ground 
of  informality. 

A  committee  having  been  appointed  to  take  into 
consideration  the  expediency  of  adopting  the  Mc- 
Kendree  College  as  the  literary  institution  of  the 
conference,  reported  in  favor  of  it,  and  the  follow- 
ing resolutions  were  adopted  : 

"1.  That  the  conference  accede  to  the  proposals 


340  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

of  the  managers  of  the  McKendree  College  of  Illi- 
nois at  Lebanon,  and  now  agree  to  adopt  the  said 
college  as  a  conference  seminary. 

"  2.  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  by 
this  conference  to  appoint  a  president  whose  literary 
and  religious  qualifications  are  such  as  will  do  credit 
to  the  institution. 

"  3.  That  each  preacher  of  the  conference  be  re- 
quired to  open  subscriptions  and  solicit  donations 
from  the  friends  of  literature  within  their  respective 
charges,  which  moneys,  when  'collected,  shall  be  paid 
to  the  person  who  may  be  legally  appointed,  either 
by  this  conference  or  the  managers,  to  superintend 
the  moneyed  concerns  of  said  institution." 

John  Dew,  Peter  Cartwright,  and  Samuel  H. 
Thompson  were  elected  as  the  committee  to  nomi- 
nate the  president,  and  were  instructed  to  act  in 
conjunction  with  the  managers  of  said  institution  in 
the  matter ;  and  also  as  soon  as  possible  to  address 
a  circular  to  each  member  of  the  conference,  giving 
such  information  as  they  shall  deem  necessary. 

As  soon  as  this  action  was  had,  fixing  the  con- 
ference seminary  at  Lebanon,  the  Indiana  brethren 
began  to  make  arrangements  for  a  similar  institu- 
tion in  Indiana,  and  a  committee  of  five  was  ap- 
pointed "  to  make  inquiry  respecting  a  suitable  site 
where  to  establish  an  institution  of  learning,  and 
also  as  to  the  amount  of  money  that  can  be  obtained 
in  the  vicinity  of  such  site  to  aid  in  the  erection  of 
suitable  buildings  for  the  purpose,"  and  report  to 
the  next  session  of  the  conference.  The  president 
appointed  as  the  committee  John  Strange,  Calvin 


MISSIONS  CONSTITUTED.  341 

W.  Ruter,  James  Armstrong,  Edwin  Ray,  and  Allen 
Wiley. 

Missions  were  constituted  as  follows :  Grand 
Prairie  Mission,  including  all  the  country  lying  be- 
tween the  Little  Wabash  and  Kaskaskia  Rivers, 
lying  on  and  near  the  State  road  leading  from 
Maysville  to  Vandalia  not  included  in  any  other 
circuit,  except  those  preaching  places  now  included 
in  the  Mt.  Carmel  Circuit  west  of  the  Little  Wa- 
bash, and  those  appointments  included  in  Shoal 
Creek  Circuit  lying  east  of  the  Kaskaskia  River. 
To  this  $100  was  appropriated.  Brownsville  Mis- 
sion, embracing  all  the  country  formerly  included  in 
the  Brownsville  Circuit,  except  that  portion  now 
embraced  in  the  Mt.  Vernon  and*  Jonesboro  Cir- 
cuits. $75  was  appropriated  to  it. 

Jonesboro  Circuit  was  transformed  into  a  mis- 
sion, and  fifty  dollars  assigned  to  it. 

Fort  Clark  Mission,  to  which  $200  was  appro- 
priated, embracing  the  district  of  country  lying  on 
both  sides  of  the  Illinois  River  from  Fort  Clark 
to  the  mouth  of  Fox  and  Vermillion  Rivers. 

To  the  Galena  Mission,  which  was  continued  the 
same  as  last  year,  was  assigned  $250. 

The  name  of  Fox  River  Mission  was  changed  to 
Chicago  Mission,  and  $250  was  appropriated  to  it. 

The  whole  amount  appropriated  to  the  work  in 
Illinois  was  $925. 

Some  other  changes  were  made  in  the  plan  of 
the  work  besides  those  indicated  in  the  formation 
of  these  missions.  A  new  circuit,  McLcansboro, 
was  formed  from  the  Mt.  Vernon  and  Mt.  Carmel 


342  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Charges,  embracing  Hamilton  County,  and  perhaps 
parts  of  Saline  and  Wayne.  The  north  part  of 
Apple  Creek  Circuit  was  constituted  into  the  Jack- 
sonville Circuit,  including  what  are  now  Morgan, 
Scott,  and  Cass  Counties.  The  Tazewell  Circuit 
was  formed  from  the  east  part  of  the  Peoria  Cir- 
cuit, embracing  the  counties  of  Tazewell,  McLean, 
and  parts  of  Logan  and  De  Witt. 

Many  excellent  revivals  occurred  this  year,  in 
spite  of  the  great  difficulties  of  travel  during  the 
Winter,  for  this  was  the  Winter  of  "  the  deep 
snow,"  the  hardships  of  which  arc  still  remembered 
by  the  old  settlers  of  the  country.  On  the  Apple 
Creek  Circuit,  at  the  Sappington  appointment,  was 
an  extensive  wcfrk  of  grace  ;  and  on  the  whole  cir- 
cuit there  was  a  continuous  advance.  On  the  Taze- 
well Circuit,  under  the  pastorate  of  S.  R.  Beggs, 
two  camp-meetings  were  held,  at  which  a  number 
of  souls  were  converted.  A  good  revival  occurred 
at  Lebanon.  One  of  the  valuable  accessions  to  the 
Church  there  during  it  was  BENJAMIN  HYPES,  who 
for  near  half  a  century  has  been  a  pillar  in  the 
Church.  He  was  born  in  Botetourt  County,  Vir- 
ginia, February  10,  1805.  His  conversion  took 
place  in  an  old  mill  in  Lebanon,  on  the  27th  of 
January,  1831,  and  he  united  with  the  Church  in 
the  March  following.  He  has  held  every  office  in 
the  Church  to  which  a  layman  is  eligible,  and  was 
the  first  lay  representative  of  the  Southern  Illinois 
Conference  in  the  General  Conference.  He  has 
been  intimately  connected  with  McKendree  College 
as  trustee  from  its  commencement,  and  has  given 


FIRST  CHURCHES.  343 

largely  of  his  time  and  means  for  the  promotion  of 
its  interests. 

At  a  camp-meeting  on  the  Sangamon  Circuit, 
at  Waters's  camp-ground,  was  a  gracious  revival. 
Among  the  converts  was  DR.  GEORGE  H.  HARRI- 
SON, who  has  for  many  years  occupied  a  prominent 
position  in  the  community. 

In  the  Fall  of  this  year  Dr.  W.  T.  Crissy  moved 
to  the  newly  laid  off  town  of  Decatur,  and  settled 
where  the  fair-ground  now  is.  The  next  Spring 
his  nephew,  Rev.  \V.  S.  Crissy,  visited  him,  and 
while  there  preached  the  first  Methodist  sermon 
ever  preached  in  the  town,  at  the  house  of  Brother 
Isaac  Miller,  just  east  of  where  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  is  now.  There  had  been  a  small  society  a 
mile  and  a  half  off,  which  was  afterwards  removed 
to  the  town,  and  became  the  germ  from  which  has 
sprung  the  flourishing  Churches  now  existing  there. 

The  first  church  in  Jacksonville  was  built  this 
year.  It  was  of  brick,  and  was  the  first  brick 
church  in  the  county.  It  was  on  East  Morgan 
Street,  a  little  north  of  the  present  Centenary 
Church. 

The  first  church  was  also  erected  this  year  in 
Springfield.  It  was  a  frame  building,  put  up  on 
the  site  of  the  present  First  Church,  on  lots  do- 
nated by  P.  P.  Enos,  on  the  corner  of  Monroe  and 
Fifth  Streets. 

Several  persons  united  with  the  Church  this 
year  who  afterwards  became  pillars  in  it,  and  whose 
names  deserve  mention.  Among  them  was  SAMUP^L, 
SACKETT,  a  native  of  Butler  County,  Ohio,  born 


344  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

September  1,  1797.  In  1829  he  removed  to  Sanga- 
mon  County,  Illinois.  He  lived  many  years  in 
Clinton,  Illinois,  and  in  1875  moved  to  Linn  County, 
Kansas,  to  spend  his  last  days  with  his  daughter. 
He  was,  during  most  of  his  religious  life,  an  officer 
in  the  Church,  having  been  Sunday-school  superin- 
tendent, trustee,  class-leader,  and  steward.  He  was 
a  good  man,  spurning  all  conformity  to  the  world, 
and  seeking,  through  earnest  prayer  and  diligent 
study  of  God's  Word,  to  become  an  Israelite  indeed, 
and  his  efforts  were  rewarded  with  a  rich  and  happy 
experience.  His  last  words  were,  "  Christ  is  all  my 
hope."1 

In  November  of  this  year  REV.  WILLIAM  PE- 
TER and  family  removed  to  Illinois.  He  had  been 
a  traveling  preacher  in  connection  with  the  Ten- 
nessee and  Kentucky  Conferences  since  1819,  and 
had  filled  some  of  the  most  important  circuits  in 
Kentucky.  In  1829  his  name  disappears  from  the 
minutes  without  any  intimation  of  the  cause.  Dr. 
Bedford  says  of  him:  "His  zeal  and  devotion  to 
the  work  to  which  he  was  called  rendered  him  re- 
markably useful.  During  his  ministry  in  Ken- 
tucky but  few  men  were  more  useful  than  William 
Peter."  He  died  in  great  peace,  eleven  days  after 
his  arrival  in  Illinois,  leaving  a  widow  with  ten 
children.  All  of  them  she  saw  become  heads  of 
families.  She  died  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  ninety, 
having  been  for  sixty  years  a  member  of  the  Church. 
She  was  an  uncomplaining,  happy  Christian.  "  Be- 
fore she  died  she  uttered  many  expressions  indicat- 

1  Rev.  J.  M.  Payne. 


JOHN  E.  A  YERS.  .  345 

ing  her  triumph  in  the  last  conflict,  such  as  'The 
Lord  is  my  Shepherd/  etc."  "And  until  conscious- 
ness was  gone  she  never  ceased  to  talk  of  God  and 
his  goodness."2 

THOMAS  KERSEY,  a  native  of  Delaware,  born 
in  1803,  moved  to  Winchester,  Illinois,  in  1830, 
and  died  September  17,  1880.  He  was  for  many 
years  a  practicing  physician.  After  leaving  the 
practice  of  medicine  he  engaged  in  business4,  and 
when  misfortune  came  upon  him,  he  bore  his  losses 
and  troubles  with  the  highest  degree  of  Christian 
grace,  and  acted  toward  men  who  suffered  financially 
by  his  misfortunes  in  a  manner  of  the  very  highest 
degree  of  honor.  Being  a  pioneer  Methodist,  his 
house  was  the  home  of  the  early  preachers,  where 
they  found  the  comforts  and  joys  of  life  in  their 
hard,  itinerant  pilgrimages.  He  was  a  faithful 
class-leader  during  many  years,  and  a  just  steward, 
looking  after  the  temporal  wants  of  the  servants  of 
God.  In  a  class-meeting,  the  Sunday  before  he 
died,  he  said :  "  I  am  poor  in  this  world's  goods, 
but  God  will  take  care  of  me.  I  am  the  son  of  a 
King  who  is  rich."  "  He  was  one  of  nature's  noble- 
men, and  a  grand  prince  in  Israel,  one  of  the  pillars 
of  the  Church  whose  place  can  never  be  filled."3 

JOHN  E.  A  YERS  and  wife  moved  this  year  from 
New  Jersey  to  Illinois.  For  many  years  he  lived 
in  Pike  County,  a  few  miles  west  of  Griggsville, 
filling  many  of  the  offices  of  the  Church,  and  being 
universally  esteemed  as  a  consistent  Christian,  a 
useful  officer,  and  honest  man.  In  1855  they  moved 

2  Rev.  J.  W.  Caldwell.  3  Rev.  W.  ,S.  Hooper. 


346  ,  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

to  Moawcqua,  where  they  lived  till  called  to  their 
reward.  Brother  Avers  was  for  years  "one  of  the 
main  members  of  the  Church  there;  consistent  in 
life,  and  liberal  in  the  use  of  his  means  for  the  be- 
nevolent as  well  as  the  local  uses  of  the  Church."4 
He  died  in  1879,  and  his  widow,  who,  in  devising 
liberal  things,  imitated  his  example,  survived  him 
only  about  two  years. 

In  November  of  this  year  HIRAM  M.  TREMBLE, 
an  exhorter,  moved  from  Harrison  County,  Indiana, 
and  settled  on  Robinson's  Creek,  in  Shelby  County, 
Illinois.  He  was  born  in  Ohio,  April  21,  1808. 
In  the  fall  of  1832  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and 
delivered  his  first  sermon  in  the  neighborhood  in 
which  he  lived.  .While  there,  and  before  he  was 
authorized  to  preach,  he  kept  up  an  itinerant  prayer- 
meeting  at  four  appointments  surrounding  Shelby- 
ville,  at  which,  during  the  Fall  and  Winter,  seventy- 
six  were  converted.  On  Robinson's  Creek  lived  an 
old  Baptist  lady,  who  had  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, all  grown.  Her  children  were  all  converted 
at  the  meeting.  The  old  lady  was  very  happy,  but 
she  would  not  give  way  to  her  emotions  and  shout. 
Soon  she  took  the  jerks  and  continued  jerking  until 
she  did  shout.  A  wicked  cattle  buyer  named  Byles, 
having  gone  to  the  meeting  out  of  curiosity  to  see 
the  jerks,  undertaking  afterwards  to  show  another 
how  they  worked,  was  seized  with  them  himself,  and 
for  awhile  was  unable  to  restrain  them.  He  be- 
haved himself  better  after  that.  A  year  or  two  af- 
terwards Mr.  Tremble  moved  to  Coles  County,  near 
"Rev.  J.  B.  Col  well. 


H.  M.  TREMBLE.  347 

where  Mattoon  now  is,  where  he  continued  to  reside 
until  his  death.  While  there  he  was  abundant  in 
labors,  and  by  his  zeal  and  faithfulness  not  only 
won  many  souls  to  Christ,  but  exerted  a  strong  in- 
fluence in  the  community.  He  was  among  the  first 
advocates  of  the  anti-slavery  cause  in  Illinois. 
When  the  war  of  the  rebellion  broke  out  he  heart- 
ily supported  the  cause  of  his  country,  and  in  1862 
was  commissioned  chaplain  of  the  Sixty-second  Reg- 
iment of  Illinois  volunteers.  He  served  three  years, 
and  when  he  retired  he  was  presented  with  a  certif- 
icate signed  by  the  officers  of  his  regiment,  attest- 
ing his  fidelity  as  chaplain  and  overseer  of  refugees, 
and  asserting  that  in  his  discharge  the  army  had 
lost  a  most  valuable  officer  and  an  upright  man  and 
honorable  gentleman.  On  returning  to  his  home  he 
resumed  his  labors  as  a  preacher,  and  in  the  lan- 
guage of  his  memoir,  "  he  was  a  true  representative 
of  what  a  local  preacher  ought  to  be,  traveling  and 
preaching  whenever  and  wherever  he  could,  and  as- 
sisting the  traveling  preachers  when  possible.  As 
age  crept  upon  him,  his  labors  did  not  abate ;  he  did 
not  become  fossilized,  but  remained  the  zealous  ad- 
vocate of  progress  to  the  last."r>  Among  his  ex- 
pressions as  he  grew  older  were,  "  I  am  living  by 
the  day;"  "I  am  living  by  the  hour;"  and,  finally, 
"I  am  living  by  the  minute,  yet  enjoying  the  pres- 
ence of  God  continually."  He  died  while  on  a  visit 
to  his  daughter,  near  Eureka  Springs,  March  14, 
1881,  but  his  remains  were  brought  to  Mattoon  for 
interment.  He  was  a  man  of  intelligence,  of  good 
5  Rev.  W.  M.  Poo. 


348  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

mind,  of  great  energy  and  force  of  character,  devo- 
tedly attached  to  the  Church,  and  as  a  preacher  far 
above  mediocrity,  and  deservedly  popular. 

There  was  a  decrease  in  the  colored  membership 
this  year  of  88,  but  an  increase  in  the  whites  of 
1,296,  making  an  aggregate  increase  of  1,208,  and 
leaving  Illinois  with  9,529  white  members,  and  43 
colored. 

Some  ministers,  who  afterwards  became  distin- 
guished in  the  Church,  commenced  their  labor  in 
Illinois  this  year.  Chief  among  them  was  EDWARD 
EAYMOND  AMES.  He  was  born  at  Amesville,  Ath- 
ens County,  Ohio,  May  30,  1806.  In  1827,  while 
a  student  at  the  State  University  at  Athens,  Ohio, 
during  a  great  revival,  in  which  many  of  the  stu- 
dents were  converted,  he  was  brought  to  a  saving 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  soon  after 
united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The 
next  year  Ife  left  college  and  became  the  principal 
of  the  Lebanon  Seminary,  at  Lebanon,  Illinois, 
which  afterwards  grew  into  McKendree  College. 
He  was  quite  successful  as  a  teacher,  though  some 
complained  of  him  for  his  rigid  discipline.  While 
at  Lebanon  his  case  was  brought  before  the  society 
for  recommendation  for  license  to  preach.  He  was 
opposed  by  Joseph  Foulks,  a  located  itinerant  who 
lived  there,  and  who  did  not  believe  that  he  would 
make  a  successful  preacher.  Several  meetings  were 
held  before  the  recommendation  was  obtained.  At 
the  quarterly-meeting  held  at  Padfield's,  he  received 
license  to  preach,  but  when  his  friends  asked  for 
him  a  recommendation  to  the  annual  conference,  he 


EDWARD  R.  AMES.  X  349 

was  again  objected  to,  and  when  the  vote  was  taken 
it  was  a  tie.  It  was  taken  again,  with  the  same  re- 
sult. The  conference  then  adjourned  until  after- 
noon. Meanwhile  Emanuel  Wilkerson,  a  colored 
local  preacher,  arrived,  and  on  the  case  being  called 
up  at  the  afternoon  session,  there  was  a  majority  of 
one  in  favor  of  the  recommendation  ;  so  that  it  was 
often  said  afterwards  that  a  colored  preacher  made 
Edward  R.  Ames  a  bishop.  The  objections  urged 
against  him  were  that  he  was  a  dyspeptic,  and  would 
never  be  able  to  do  the  work  of  a  Methodist 
preacher,  and  that  he  was  too  fastidious  in  his  taste, 
particularly  in  regard  to  eating,  to  become  accepta- 
ble with  the  people.  Of  his  ability  none  enter- 
tained any  doubt.  Having  been  admitted  into  con- 
ference, his  first  appointment  was  the  Shoal  Creek 
Circuit,  with  John  Dew  as  his  senior,  and  Samuel 
H.  Thompson  as  his  presiding  elder.  A  more  judi- 
cious appointment  could  not  have  been  made;  and 
the  training  he  received  from  his  colleague  and  pre- 
siding elder  told  favorably  upon  all  his  after  life.  The 
next  year  he  was  sent  to  Vincennes,  and  in  1832  fell 
into  the  Indiana  Conference,  of  which  he  remained  a 
member  until  his  election  to  the  episcopacy,  with 
the  exception  of  one  year,  in  which  he  was  stationed 
in  St.  Louis.  Rev.  S.  G.  Patterson,  who  was  his 
neighbor  on  the  St.  Louis  Circuit,  describes  him  at 
this  time  as  "a  man  of  so-cial  qualities,  preposses- 
sing in  his  manners,  of  fair  attainments,  sound  in 
doctrine,  a  good  preacher,  and  one  who  enjoyed  the 
reputation  of  being  a  good  pastor."  From  1840  to 
1844  he  was  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  Missionary 


350  -     METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Society,  during  which  he  traveled  extensively,  vis- 
iting all  the  Indian  missions  on  the  Western  frontier, 
from  Lake  Superior  to  Arkansas,  and  aiding  in  es- 
tablishing schools  among  them.  In  1852,  at  the 
General  Conference  in  Boston,  he  was  elected  to  the 
office  of  bishop,  in  which  he  continued  until  his 
death  at  his  residence  in  Baltimore,  April  25,  1879. 
He  was  in  circuits  and  stations  seven  years,  two 
years  agent  of  the  Conference  Preachers'  Aid  So- 
ciety, nine  years  on  districts,  four  years  missionary 
secretary,  and  twenty-seven  years  in  the  episcopal 
office,  making  an  itinerant  career  in  all  of  forty- 
nine  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1840,  1844,  and  1852. 

"  God  blessed  him  with  a  powerful  physical 
frame  and  a  commanding  person.  In  his  earlier 
years  he  had  a-  strong  voice,  with  great  oratorical 
power  and  pathos ;  and  as  in  clarion  notes  he  rang 
out  the  great  truths  of  God,  men  were  moved  under 
his  appeals ;  great  religious  revivals  everywhere  at- 
tended his  preaching ;  sinners  were  awakened  and 
brought  to  Christ,  and  believers  were  strengthened 
and  built  up  in  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  Gospel. 
In  his  later  years  his  voice  was  more  subdued,  and 
its  tones  were  soft  and  sympathetic,  but  the  old  fire 
and  the  old  power  pervaded  his  sermons  to  the  last, 
and  the  preachers  and  the  people  always  heard  him 
with  great  delight,  and  were  abundantly  instructed 
and  blessed  under  his  ministry.  The  salient  points 
in  his  character,  and  which  fitted  him  for  eminence 
and  success  in  his  office  as  a  bishop,  were  quickness, 
clearness,  and  comprehensiveness  of  perception,  en- 


BISHOP  AMES  AS  A  PREACHER.  351 

abling  liim  to  grasp  almost  any  subject  at  once,  and 
to  perceive  also  its  collateral  relations  and  bearings; 
a  strong,  unbending  will  to  maintain  the  right  as  he 
saw  it,  which,  when  sanctified  to  God,  as  it  was, 
made  him  a  master  over  men ;  to  which  may  be 
added  an  intuitive  perception  of  human  character, 
enabling  him  to  see  through  men,  scarcely  ever  mis- 
judging them,  and  scarcely  ever  failing  to  judge 
rightly  in  estimating  their  capacity  to  succeed  in 
any  given  line  of  action ;  so  that  in  his  superin- 
tendency,  having  formed  his  plans,  he  selected  his 
agents  to  execute  them,  and  the  result  almost  al- 
ways justified  the  wisdom  of  his  plans,  and  the 
sagacity  of  his  appointments."6 

"As  a  preacher,"  says  Daniels,  "  Bishop  Ames 
was  capable  of  wonderful  eloquence,  which  was 
only  occasionally  manifested ;  but  sometimes  with 
some  simple  narrative,  some  tender  little  story,  told 
with  all  the  pathos  of  his  great  nature,  he  would 
melt  a  congregation  to  tears;  or' in  some  grand 
statement  of  doctrine  or  duty  he  would  stir  the 
blood  of  a  conference,  until  the  'Amens'  became  so 
loud  that  he  wmild  be  obliged  to  pause  for  silence. 
There  was  a  broad,  deep  vein  of  humor  in  him;  his 
smile  was  sunshine;  his  commendation  was  a  power 
and  blessing  to  those  who  received  it;  and  his  re- 
buke had  so  much  of  the  terrible  in  it  that  few 
ventured  to  incur  it  a  second  time." 

He  was  one  of  the  best  presiding  officers  the 
Church  ever  had;  ready  and  correct  in  his  decis.- 
ions,  rapid  in  the  transaction  of  business,  and  de- 

6  General  Minutes. 


352  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

cided  in  the  repression  of  all  disorder.  Possessed 
of  great  personal  dignity,  he  was  yet  affable,  court- 
eous, and  accessible  to  all.  His  knowledge  of  hu- 
man nature,  and  his  thorough  acquaintance  with  all 
the  phases  of  the  itinerant  work,  particularly  in  the 
the  West,  rendered  him  peculiarly  successful  in  mak- 
ing appointments  for  the  preachers,  for  he  rarely 
failed  to  send  the  right  man  to  the  right  place.  He 
had  no  sympathy  with  pretension,  or  sham,  or  un- 
fairness, or  meanness  of  any  kind ;  and  sometimes, 
in  his  reproofs  of  those  whom  he  thought  guilty  of 
such  conduct,  he  would  use  language  that  many  of 
the  hearers  would  characterize  as  unmercifully  se- 
vere. Occasionally  his  indignation  would  get  the 
better  of  his  judgment  and  make  him  too  hasty,  as 
well  as  too  severe  in  his  reproofs.  An  instance  of 
this  occurred  at  one  of  the  sessions  of  the  Illinois 
Conference  at  which  he  presided.  A  brother  had 
been  charged  with  imprudent  language  in  connec- 
tion with  the  subject  of  holiness.  The  case  was  re- 
ferred to  a  committee,  who  in  their  report  recom- 
mended that  the  brother  be  admonished  by  the 
chair.  As  soon  as  the  report  was  read,  the  bishop 
called  up  the  brother  and  administered  to  him  a 
severe  reproof;  and  as  he  took  his  seat,  was  about 
to  proceed  with  other  business,  when  the  secretary 
whispered  to  him  that  the  report  of  the  committee 
had  not  been  acted  on  by  the  conference.  The 
question  was  taken,  and,  fortunately  for  the  bishop, 
the  report  was  adopted.  Had  it  been  rejected  he 
would  have  been  placed  in  a  very  awkward  posi- 
tion. In  one  respect  Bishop  Ames  has  been  greatly 


BISHOP  AMES'S  BENEVOLENCE.  353 

misjudged.  Because  he  left  no  legacies  to  the  be- 
nevolent enterprises  of  the  Church  he  was  charged 
with  being  penurious.  The  truth  is,  he  was  one  of 
the  most  liberal  of  men  in  the  use  of  his  means. 
He  exercised  his  own  judgment  in  his  gifts,  never 
giving  for  show,  or  because  others  thought  he  ought 
to  give,  but  because  he  believed  that  the  object  or< 
person  was  both  worthy  and  needy.  From  his  own 
early  experience  of  the  hardships  of  the  itinerant 
life  he  had  learned  to  sympathize  with  the  preachers 
in  their  sufferings  and  privations,  and  it  was  upon 
them  his  benefactions  were  chiefly  bestowed.  The 
writer  has  heard  of  cases  in  which  gifts  of  ten, 
twenty,  fifty,  and  a  hundred  dollars  were  made  to 
preachers  in  distress.  And  this  was  his  constant 
habit.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  he  never  attended  a 
conference  where  cases  of  need  were  presented  with- 
out contributing  largely  to  their  relief.  And  it  is 
safe,  also,  to  say  that  his  gifts  to  needy  preachers, 
privately,  largely  exceeded  in  amount  his  public 
contributions. 

He  loved  the  Church.  Many  tempting  oppor- 
tunities were  afforded  him  of  attaining  high  civil 
office,  and  strong  inducements  were  presented  to 
him,  but  he  promptly  rejected  them,  esteeming  the 
reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  highest 
honors  or  offices  of  this  world.  "  Take  him  all  in 
all,  he  had  few  equals  and  no  superiors  in  the  Church 
he  lo'ved  so  well."7 

WILLIAM  H.  ASKINS  was  born  in  Virginia  July 
8,  1803.  He  was  converted  at  a  camp-meeting  in 

7  General  Minutes. 

30 


354  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Clarke  County,  Kentucky,  in  1820.  "  Being  very 
soon  impressed  that  it  was  his  duty  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  he  conferred  not  with  flesh  and  blood,  but 
obeyed  his  convictions,  and  being  authorized  by  the 
Church,  he  entered  upon  his  new  life  with  all  the 
zeal  and  fervor  peculiar  to  his  character.  He  gave 
himself  up  entirely  to  the  great  work  assigned  him, 
and  labored  to  the  utmost  of  his  strength  for  the 
salvation  of  immortal  souls."8 

After  traveling  six  years  in  the  Kentucky  Con- 
ference, and  filling  some  of  its  most  important  ap- 
pointments acceptably,  he  was  transferred  to  the 
Illinois  Conference,  and  assigned  to  the  Apple  Creek 
Circuit  with  W.  D.  R.  Trotter.  The  next  year  he 
was  appointed  to  Jacksonville  Circuit,  which  he 
traveled  "  until  February,  1832,  when  his  afflictions 
compelled  him  to  desist.  About  the  first  of  April 
he  received  a  stroke  of  paralysis,  and  about  six 
weeks  after,  another,  which  deprived  him  of  his 
speech,  and  mostly  of  his  hearing.  In  this  condi- 
tion he  continued  several  weeks,  and  died  July  6th, 
aged  twenty-nine  years.  He  was  a  popular  and 
very  successful  preacher,  lived  beloved  and  died 
lamented,  but  he  bore  his  sufferings  with  patience, 
and  gave  evidence  to  the  last  that  God  was  with 
him  in  the  mighty  deep."9  One  of  his  colleagues 
describes  \\irn  as  "  a  true  Christian,  and  a  thorough 
Wesleyan  in  all  his  feelings — an  old-time  Methodist. 
He  had  tact,  self-reliance,  and  spiritual  power.  He 
was  a  fair  preacher,  but  'as  an  exhorter  he  excelled. 
He  dared  once  in  Kentucky  to  follow  with  an  ex- 

8  Dr.  Redford.        9  General  Minutes. 


JAMES  P.  CRA  WFORD.  355 

hortation  one  of  the  most  powerful  sermons  of 
Bishop  McKendree."  10  Jonathan  Stamper  says  of 
him,  "  He  had  a  remarkable  mind  ;  never  forgot 
what  he  once  learned,  and  possessed  the  rare  faculty 
of  bringing  every  thing  he  knew  into  requisition  in 
the  very  best  manner.  But  the  most  important  se- 
cret of  his  success  as  a  preacher  lay  in  the  fact  that 
he  was  filled  with  love  toward  God  and  man.  A 
clear,  musical  voice,  dignified  gestures,  and  correct, 
well-chosen  language,  all  characterized  his  pulpit 
efforts.  He  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  powerful 
exhorters  I  ever  heard,  and,  when  engaged  in  this 
peculiar  exercise,  often  grew  wonderfully  eloquent. 
Take  him  altogether,  he  was  one  among  the  fore- 
most ministers  of  his  age,  in  respect  both  of  talent 
and  usefulness." 

PHILIP  T.  CORDIER,  who  was  this  year  received 
on  trial  and  appointed  to  Wabash  Circuit,  traveled 
only  three  years.  In  1831  his  appointment  was 
Rock  Island,  and  in  1832,  Grand  Prairie.  At  the 
close  of  this  year  he  was  located  by  the  conference. 
Dr.  Cartwright  says  of  him :  "He  was  a  man  of 
feeble  talents,  unstable,  and  did  but  little  good.  He 
was  finally  expelled." 

Of  JAMES  P,  CRAWFORD  we  have  no  account  but 
the  record  of  his  appointments  in  the  General  Min- 
utes. He  traveled  six  years,  four  of  them  by  alter- 
nate appointments  on  the  Golconda  Circuit,  in  1831 
on  Jonesboro  Circuit,  and  in  1834  on  Frankfort  Cir- 
cuit. At  the  conference  of  1836  he  was  granted  a 
location. 

10  Rev.  W.  D.  R.  Trotter. 


356  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

SPENCER  W.  HUNTER  was  born  of  Baptist  pa- 
rents in  Shelby  County,  Kentucky,  December  21, 
1801.  In  his  twenty-second  year  he  was  converted, 
and  four  years  afterwards  was  licensed  to  preach. 
He  traveled  for  two  years  under  the  presiding  elder, 
and  in  1830  wras  received  on  trial  in  the  Illinois 
Conference  and  appointed  to  Quincy  Circuit,  to 
which  he  was  reappointed  the  next  year.  In  1832 
he  was  transferred  to  Indiana  Conference,  in  which 
he  traveled  three  years.  In  1835  he  was,  at  his 
own  request,  left  without  an  appointment,  and  the 
next  year  was  transferred  to  the  Illinois  Confer- 
ence and  again  appointed  to  Quincy  Circuit.'  In 
1837  he  was  sent  to  Pittsfield  Circuit,  and  reap- 
pointed to  it  the  next  year,  but  on  his  way  home 
from  conference,  at  Alton,  he  was  attacked  by 
severe  disease,  and,  after  suffering  for  twenty-eight 
days,  on  the  18th  of  October,  1838,  he  fell  asleep 
in  Jesus.  "For  some  days  previous  to  his  depar- 
ture his  mind  was  troubled ;  but,  on  the  day  of  his 
departure,  the  sun  of  righteousness  dispelled  the 
cloud  and  shone  divinely  clear  upon  his  rejoicing 
soul.  The  prospect  before  him  was  glorious,  and 
Avith  his  latest  breath  he  shouted, f  Victory  !'  Brother 
Hunter  was  a  good  and  useful  minister  of  the  Gos- 
pel. In  him  was  blended  a  discriminating  mind 
Avith  a  good  delivery.  The  graces  which  ornament 
the  man  united  in  him  with  the  gifts  of  a  sound 
Christian  minister.  In  the  pulpit  he  was  plain  and 
energetic;  in  the  social  circle,  a  man  of  God;  and 
as  he  visited  from  house  to  house,  his  agreeable 
manners  and  the  holiness  of  his  life  made  him  both 


AMOS  PRENTICE.  357 

a  welcome  and  a  useful  guest.  He  lived  most  be- 
loved, and  died  greatly  lamented."  n 

AMOS  PRENTICE  was  born  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  September  4,  1804.  When  twelve  years  old 
he  removed  with  his  parents  to  Illinois,  and  in  1825 
was  converted  and  united  with  the  Church.  In 
1827  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  then  spent  a 
year  as  teacher  at  the  Pottawattomie  Mission,  to 
which  Jesse  Walker  was  missionary.  The  next 
year,  having  married,  he  moved  to  Decatur,  and 
engaged  in  the  mercantile  business.  But  his  wife 
dying,  he  settled  his  secular  business  and  entered 
the  itinerancy.  His  first  appointment  was  Mc- 
Leansboro  Circuit.  The  next  year,  1831,  he  \vas 
assigned  to  Salt  Creek,  but  at  the  close  of  the  year, 
his  health  having  failed,  he  was,  at  his  own  request, 
discontinued.  He  then  settled  in  Greenfield,  and 
went  into  partnership  with  G.  W.  Allen  in  the  mer- 
cantile business.  In  1833  he  was  again  received 
into  the  itinerancy,  and  appointed  to  Shelbyville 
Circuit,  on  which  he  labored  quite  successfully  for 
a  year,  having  several  good  revivals,  and  commenc- 
ing the  first  church  in  Shelbyville,  but  in  conse- 
quence of  failing  health  he  was  again  compelled  to 
retire  from  the  work  at  the  close  of  the  year.  He 
afterwards  settled  at  Sullivan,  laboring  as  a  local 
preacher,  as  his  strength  would  permit,  until  his 
death. 

He  was  a  man  of  a  remarkably  sweet  spirit, 
modest,  gentle,  sympathetic,  loving  every  one  and 
universally  beloved.  His  preaching  was  greatly 

"General  Minutes. 


358  ME  TIlODmi  IN  ILLINOIS. 

admired  for  its  tenderness,  and  he  was  much  in 
demand  for  funeral  sermons  and  at  the  sick  bed. 
He  was  an  instrument  of  good  to  many  souls.  One 
who  knew  him  intimately  for  many  years,  says,  "I 
never  saw  him  angry  or  heard  him  speak  an  unkind 
word  to  any  one." 12  He  died  at  the  residence  of 
his  brother  William,  at  Shclbyville,  whither  he  had 
been  removed  for  medical  attendance,  August  17, 
1849. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  accessions  to  the  con- 
ference this  year  was  JOHN  SINCLAIR.  He  was  born 
in  Loudoun  County,  Virginia,  April  9, 1793.  "When 
he  Avas  six  years  old  his  parents  moved  into  East 
Tennessee,  where  he  remained  until  he  was  twenty. 
They  then  removed  to  Kentucky,  and  settled  at  Lex- 
ington. In  1819  he  was  married  to  Miss  Lydia 
Short,  who  for  near  forty  years  shared  with  him 
the  labors  and  privations  of  the  itinerancy,  and  sur- 
viving him  many  years,  passed  away  in  1878. 
About  a  year  after  his  marriage  he  was  deeply  con- 
vinced of  sin,  and,  having  united  with  the  Church 
as  a  seeker  of  religion,  was  soon  after  powerfully 
converted  at  a  class-meeting.  He  was  very  soon 
made  a  class-leader,  leading  two  classes,  while  he 
himself  was  a  member  of  a  third.  In  1824  he  was 
licensed  to  preach,  and  soon  after  was  received  into 
the  Kentucky  Conference,  in  which  he  labored  for 
six  years,  and  where  "  he  was  remarkably  useful, 
and  his  ministry  was  blessed  in  the  conversion  of 
hundreds."13  But,  "having  for  some'time  felt  that 
the  existence  of  slavery  in  the  State  of  Kentucky 

"  Dr.  W.  S.  Prentice.         13  Dr.  Kedford. 


IN  SNOW  AND  ICE.  359 

was  a  serious  thing,  and  dreading  its  consequences 
upon  after  generations — and  this  was  the  feeling 
generally  of  Methodist  preachers  at  that  time  "  H — 
in  1830  he  sought  and  received  a  transfer  to  the 
Illinois  Conference,  to  which  his  father's  family  had 
removed  in  1829,  and  had  settled  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Jacksonville.  His  first  appointment  was 
the  Jacksonville  Circuit.  In  1831-2  he  was  on  the 
Sangamon  Circuit,  and  in  1833  he  was  made  pre- 
siding elder  of  the  Chicago  District,  which  then 
embraced  all  the  settlements  now  embraced  in  the 
Rock  River,  Central  Illinois,  Upper  Iowa,  and 
Wisconsin  Conferences,  and  some  in  the  Illinois 
Conference.  The  next  year  he  was  returned  to  the 
district,  which  was  somewhat  diminished  in  size  by 
the  formation  of  the  Galena  Mission  District,  which 
included  the  north-western  portion  of  the  territory 
he  had  traveled  the  year  before.  In  1835  he  was 
appointed  to  the  Sangamon  District.  These  were 
years  of  great  affliction  of  body,  both  to  himself 
and  wife.  In  the  Winter  of  1836-7  he  came  near 
losing  his  life  in  one  of  the  sudden  changes  of 
weather  for  which  Illinois  is  noted.  He  had  started 
across  the  prairie  between  the  Vermillion  River  and 
Ottawa,  when  suddenly  the  wind  changed  to  the 
north.  A  good  deal  of  snow  had  fallen  that  had 
partially  melted,  and  the  earth  was  covered  with 
slush.  Before  he  reached  Cole's  Creek  he  became 
so  cold  that  he  got  down  from  his  horse  to  walk. 
Soon  his  leggings  became  so  clogged  with  ice  that 
he  could  not  bear  the  weight,  and  so  left  them 
"Begga. 


3GO  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

standing  on  the  prairie.  His  horse's  legs  became 
covered  with  ice  and  his  own  so  clogged  that  he 
could  not  mount  his  horse  again  to  cross  the  creek. 
All  he  could  do  was  to  let  the  horse  drag  him 
through  the  stream,  he  holding  to  the  stirrup,  until 
at  length,  utterly  exhausted,  and  almost  frozen  to' 
death,  he  reached  a  house  some  miles  beyond,  where 
he  was  cared  for. 

At  the  conference  of  1838  he  was  placed  in  a 
supernumerary  relation,  and  appointed  to  Ottawa. 
The  next  year  he  Avas  sent  to  Ottawa  District,  and, 
in  1840,  falling  into  the  newly-formed  Rock  River 
Conference,  he  was  returned  to  it,  and  also  for  the 
two  following  years.  In  1843  he  was  appointed 
to  Rock  River  District,  and  "  elected  delegate  to 
the  General  Conference,  which  held  its  session  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  May,  1844.  From  New 
York  he  returned  home  sick,  and  at  the  session  of 
the  annual  conference  in  the  Fall  he  was,  at  his 
own  request,  given  a  superannuated  relation,  which 
he  sustained  until  1847,  when  he  was  made  effective 
and  appointed  to  Rock  River  District,  where  he 
Was  continued  for  four  years.  In  1851  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  Chicago  District,  and  remained  on  it  four 
years.  In  1855-6  he  was  pastor  at  Evanston,  and 
in  1857  he  consented  to  take  a  superannuated  rela- 
tion, and  made  his  home  in  Evanston,  where  he 
resided  at  the  time  on  his  death,"15  in  1861.  Mr. 
Sinclair  was  a  decided  Methodist,  making  no  com- 
promise in  regard  to  any  of  the  doctrines  or  usages 
of  the  Church.  Says  Mr.  Beggs:  "  In  the  Summer 

15  General  Minutes. 


HIS  CHARACTERISTICS.  361 

of  1834  I  accompanied  John  Sinclair,  presiding 
elder,  to  his  quarterly-meeting  at  Galena.  Barton 
Handle  and  J.  T.  Mitchell  were  laboring  on  that 
circuit.  After  a  profitable  and  pleasant  meeting, 
we  started  for  a  camp-meeting  that  was  to  be  held 
near  Princeton.  The  meeting  was  somewhat  ad- 
vanced, and  there  was  a  prospect  of  a  good  work. 
Two  Congregational  ministers  came  to  the  camp- 
grounds, and  proposed  to  join  us  in  our  efforts. 
There  was  to  be  no  doctrine  preached,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  meeting  the  converts  were  to  join  whom 
they  pleased.  To  this  our  presiding  elder  strongly 
objected.  He  said  he  was  a  Methodist,  and  he  must 
preach  their  doctrines,  and  that  there  could  be  no 
union  on  such  terms.  We  had  an  unusually  success- 
ful meeting,  the  fruits  of  which,  I  trust,  will  be  seen 
in  eternity." 

"  Brother  Sinclair  was  a  faithful,  good  Christian, 
who  lived  with  good  conscience  toward  God  and  in 
fellowship  with  his  brethren;  a  man  of  a  sweet, 
amiable  disposition,  and  while  he  was  true  and  hon- 
est himself,  he  was  kind  and  forgiving  toward  oth- 
ers. As  a  husband,  he  was  tender  and  affectionate; 
as  a  neighbor,  he  was  generous  and  obliging.  In 
his  own  house  he  was  given  to  hospitality.  As  a 
preacher,  he  was  plain,  simple,  and  good,  a  preacher 
of  the  true  Methodist  type.  Few  men  were  ever 
more  beloved  than  he  was.  His  friends  were  many 
and  lasting,  because  he  pleased  all  men  for  their  good 
and  to  edification.  He  was  always  cheerful  and 
happy,  a  firm  believer  in  divine  revelation,  and  a 
happy  partaker  of  the  grace  of  salvation  ;  he  trusted 
31 


362  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

God  at  all  times.  He  did  not  fear  death,  enjoying 
a  clear  title  to  a  glorious  inheritance.  Death  he 
called  a  ( falling/  '  departing/  '  going  away.'  A  few 
days  before  his  death,  and  when  in  his  usual  health, 
he  said  to  his  wife  :  '  When  I  go  away,  dress  me  as 
if  I  was  going  to  meeting.'  She  replied,  '  I  will, 
if  it  be  your  wish.'  '  I  wish  it,'  he  said.  '  Do  n't/ 
said  he,  (  put  on  mourning ;  it  seems  to  me  that  it 
is  very  improper  to  mourn  for  a  minister  who  has, 
gone  to  so  good  a  place  as  heaven/  This  was  his 
dying  request.  He  died  suddenly,  but  he  was  ready. 
For  years  he  had  been  ready."16 

SIMEON  WALKER  was  born  in  Jackson  County, 
Georgia,  April  13,  1802.  In  1809  his  parents 
moved  to  the  then  Territory  of  Illinois,  but  the  In- 
dians being  troublesome,  they  removed  to  Kentucky 
the  next  year,  where  his  father  died,  and  his  mother, 
with  the  children,  returned  to  Illinois  in  1813.  In 
1819  he  was  powerfully  converted  at  a  camp-meet- 
ing at  Shiloh,  and  from  that  hour  till  his  death  he 
was  a  faithful  laborer  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  He 
often  said  of  himself,  "I  was  converted  a  preacher." 
The  next  year  he  was  licensed  to  exhort,  and  six  years 
afterwards  to  preach.  He  was  received  into  the  con- 
ference in  1830,  and  appointed  to  Grand  Prairie  Mis- 
sion, a  new  work  to  embrace  the  settlements  between 
the  Little  Wabash  and  the  Okaw.  He  traveled  this 
charge  two  years,  and  reported  at  the  expiration  of 
his  term  303  members  and  twenty-eight  preaching 
places.  In  1832  he  was  sent  to  Mt.  Vernon  Cir- 
cuit, on  which  he  had  great  revivals  of  religion, 
16 General  Minutes. 


SIMEON  WALKER.  363 

and  reported  an  increase  of  nearly  300  members. 
His  next  appointment  was  Carlyle.  Here  his 
health  failed,  and  with  his  means  all  spent,  and  a 
family  of  six  children,  he  felt  that  he  must  retire 
from  the  regular  work  for  a  season,  and  at  the  ses- 
sion of  conference  of  1834  he  was  granted  a  loca- 
tion. In  this  relation  he  continued  for  twenty-two 
years,  laboring  constantly,  however,  for  the  cause 
of  Christ,  manifesting  the  same  zeal  that  had  in- 
fluenced him  from  the  beginning,  and  really  perform- 
ing as  much  ministerial  labor  as  many  of  the  itin- 
erants. In  1856  he  was  readmitted  in  the  Southern 
Illinois  Conference,  and  was  sent  to  McLeansboro ; 
in  1857  and  1858  he  traveled  Mt.  Vernon  Circuit; 
in  1859  and  1860,  Carlyle;  in  1861,  Pocahontas, 
and  in  1862,  Tamaroa.  In  1863  he  entered  the 
army  as  chaplain  of  the  Fifteenth  Illinois  Cavalry, 
and  remained  in  that  position  until  his  health  utterly 
failed.  In  1864  and  1865  he  was  on  the  supernu- 
merary list,  and  in  1866  he  was  granted  a  superan- 
nuated relation,  in  which  he  remained  until  his 
death  at  the  residence  of  his  son  at  Carbondale, 
February  22,  1880.  "His  opportunities  for  early 
education  were  quite  limited.  But  he  had  an  un- 
quenchable thirst  for  knowledge,  and  was  a  diligent 
student,  often  bending  over  his  books  by  a  dim 
light  till  the  hours  of  midnight.  He  thus  obtained 
a  fair  English  education.  For  sixty  years,  mingling 
study  and  work  together,  he  lived  and  labored  with 
the  one  desire  to  save  souls  and  bless  the  world, 
ever  preaching  as  much  by  example  as  by  precept. 
It  was  ever  his  rule  to  make  daily  a  strict  personal 


364  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

examination  into  his  standing  with  God.  He  died, 
as  he  lived,  in  the  triumph  of  a  living  faith."17 

WILLIAM  DAVID  RICE  TROTTER  was  born  in 
Glasgow,  Kentucky,  March  17,  1807.  His  father, 
dying  when  he  was  in  his  fourth  year,  he  was  raised 
in  the  family  of  Judge  Underwood,  of  Bowling 
Green,  Kentucky.  In  the  year  1825,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen,  he  entered  the  United  Sates  Navy  as  a 
midshipman.  At  the  end  of  two  years  he  returned 
home  on  account  of  sickness,  and  thinking  that  the 
work  did  not  agree  with  him,  he  resigned  his  posi- 
tion. When  he  recovered  his  health,  he  entered 
the  office  of  his  brother-in-law,  Judge  Underwood, 
as  a  student  of  law.  He  was  pushing  his  studies 
with  energy  and  success,  and  would  soon  have  been 
admitted  to  the  bar,  but  for  an  event  which  altered 
his  plans,  and  molded  his  after  life.  Attending  a 
camp-meeting  held  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bowling 
Green,  he  was  converted  and  joined  the  Methodist 
Church.  This  event  changed  the  direction  of  his 
thoughts,  and  he  commenced  preparation  for  the 
ministry."18  In  1830  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  was 
that  year  received  into  the  conference,  and  assigned 
to  Apple  Creek  Circuit.  In  1831  he  was  appointed 
to  Lebanon  with  John  Dew  as  his  senior,  and  in 
1832  to  Blue  River  Mission.  A  camp-meeting  was 
held  here  in  August,  1833,  at  which  Bishop  Soule 
was  present.  He  was  on  his  way  to  the  Missouri 
Conference  at  Salem,  in  Arkansas,  and  stopping  at 
the  residence  of  Peter  Cart-wright,  accompanied  him 
to  his  quarterly  meeting.  Mr.  C.  thus  describes  the 

"Rev.  0.  E.  Cline.        18Dr.  F.  W.  Phillips. 


W.  D.  R.  TROTTER.  365 

trip:  "After  we  crossed  the  Illinois  River,  we  had 
a  hilly  country  to  pass  through  to  get  to  the  quar- 
terly-meeting, almost  without  roads.  So  steep  were 
some  of  the  hills,  and  so  deep  the  hollows  and  ra- 
vines, that  we  had  to  loose  the  horses  from  the 
bishop's  carriage,  and  let  it  down  by  hand ;  then 
hitch  on  and  drive  up  the  hills.  After  much  labor 
to  man  and  beast,  we  got  safe  to  the  quarterly-meet- 
ing. The  bishop  stayed  with  us  over  the  Sabbath, 
and  preached  two  excellent  sermons,  which  had  a 
good  effect  on  the  congregations;  and  the  curiosity 
of  many  was  gratified,  for  if  circumstances  had  not 
transpired  to  bring  him  to  our  camp  quarterly-meet- 
ing, they  would  have  lived  and  died  without  ever 
seeng  a  Methodist  bishop." 

Mr.  Trotter's  next  appointment  was  the  Hen- 
derson River  Mission.  Whilst  on  this  charge  he 
crossed  the  Mississippi,  and  preached  the  first  ser- 
mon in  Burlington,  Iowa.  Dr.  Cartwright  thinks 
this  to  have  been  the  first  Methodist  sermon  ever 
preached  in  the  State,  but  this  is  probably  a  mis- 
take, as  Barton  Randle  had  preached  at  Dubuque 
just  before  this.  "Burlington,  as  it  is  now  called, 
was  built  on  the  Bottom,  at  the  mouth  of  a  creek 
emptying  into  the  Mississippi  River,  and  the  char- 
acter of  its  inhabitants  may  be  inferred  from  this 
incident.  A  man  crossed  over  from  this  side  the 
river,  and  told  the  people  they  had  better  quit  their 
carousing  and  gambling,  for  a  preacher  named  Trot- 
ter was  coming  over  and  was  going  to  bring  the 
Sabbath  with  him."19 

"Dr."  Phillips.  * 


366  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

In  1834  he  was  teacher  in  Pleasant  Plains  Acad- 
emy; in  1835  he  was  sent  to  Rushville  Station,  and 
in  1836  to  Sangamon  Circuit.  In  1837  and  1838 
he  was  on  the  superannuated  list,  spending  the  first 
of  these  years  in  teaching  on  Spring  Creek,  in  San- 
gamon County,  and  the  second  year  in  the  Ebenezer 
Manual  Labor  School.  In  1839  he  was  placed  on 
the  effective  list  and  appointed  to  Jacksonville  Sta- 
tion, and  in  1840  and  1841  to  Winchester  Circuit. 
In  1841  he  was  appointed  to  the  Bloomington  Dis- 
trict, on  which  he  labored  two  years.  In  1844  he 
was  placed  on  the  Springfield  District,  on  which  he 
remained  three  years.  In  1847  he  was  appointed 
agent  for  the  Conference  Female  Academy  at  Jack- 
sonville. In  1848  he  was  assigned  to  the  Jackson- 
ville District,  from  which  he  was  removed  to  the 
Griggsville  District,  on  which  he  labored  but  a 
single  year.  In  1852  he  was  placed  upon  the  su- 
perannuated list,  in  view  of  his  connection  with  the 
publication  of  the  Central  Christian  Advocate  at  St. 
Louis,  of  which  he  was  the  first  editor  and  pub- 
lisher. As  an  editor  he  fully  met  the  public  expec- 
tation, and  his  personal  management  of  the  business 
was  satisfactory ;  but  such  was  the  financial  condi- 
tion of  the  country  and  so  great  the  difficulty  of 
securing  a  sufficient  circulation  to  the  paper,  that 
Brother  Trotter,  who  had  assumed  the  whole  pecun- 
iary responsibility  of  it,  became  so  greatly  embar- 
rassed financially  that  he  never  fully  recovered  from 
it.  Efforts  were  made  by  him  and  his  friends  to 
induce  the  General  Conference,  after  taking  charge 
of  the  paper,  to  relieve  him,  but  they  failed,  and 


AS  A  PREACHER.  367 

he  had  to  bear  the  loss  alone.  In  1854  he  was  ap- 
pointed professor  in  Illinois  Conference  Female 
College,  and  the  next  year  was  financial  agent  for  it. 
In  1856  and  1857  he  was  on  the  superannuated  list, 
endeavoring,  by  engaging  in  business,  to  recover 
from  the  losses  he  had  suffered  while  in  charge  of 
the  paper,  but  with  small  success.  In  1858  he  was 
on  Exeter  Circuit,  in  1859  on  Jacksonville  Circuit, 
and  in  1860  at  Concord.  In  1861  he  was  appointed 
to  Paris  District,  on  which  he  remained  four  years. 
In  1865  and  1866  he  was  on  the  Quincy  District, 
on  which  he  continued  two  years.  In  1867  he  was 
stationed  at  Alexander,  in  1868  at  Havana,  and  in 
1869  and  1870  at  Carrollton.  In  1871  he  was  placed 
on  the  superannuated  list,  on  which  he  remained  un- 
til his  death,  at  his  residence  in  Jacksonville,  July 
25,  1880. 

"  Few  pleasanter  men  than  Brother  Trotter  are 
to  be  found  in  social  life.  Ever  cheerful,  he  brought 
the  very  sunshine  into  your  house  when  he  visited 
you.  A  reader  all  his  days,  possessed  of  a  retentive 
mind,  his  fund  of  information,  acquired  by  study 
and  observation,  being  always  at  command,  he  was 
a  conversationalist  who  both  instructed  and  inter- 
ested. As  a  preacher  he  was  possessed  of  more 
than  ordinary  ability.  His  sermons  were  methodi- 
cal in  their  arrangement,  and  might  often  have  been 
taken  as  models  by  younger  ministers.  His  manner 
of  preaching  required  more  time  than  this  swift 
moving  age  is  willing  to  give  to  a  minister,  but 
when  he  had  pursued  one  line  of  thought  after  an- 
other to  legitimate  conclusions,  the  summing  up  was 


368  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

often  with  wonderful  effect  upon  the  audience."20 
One  who  heard  him  frequently  says,  "His  sermons 
were  logical  and  clear,  though  sometimes  two  hours 
and  a  half  long.  In  the  beginning  of  his  sermons 
he  was  very  deliberate  and  slow  of  speech,  but  when 
he  became  warmed  up  with  his  theme  he  was  often 
exceedingly  eloquent." 

One  of  the  most  efficient  and  useful  of  those  who 
commenced  their  labors  in  Illinois  this  year  was 
JOHN  VAN  CLEVE,  who  had  united  with  the  con- 
ference two  years  before,  during  which  he  had  la- 
bored in  Indiana.  He  was  born  in  'Shrewsbury, 
New  Jersey,  May  28,  1804.  His  parents  moved  to 
Scipio,  New  York,  in  1808,  and  from  thence  to 
Ohio  in  1815.  He  was  religiously  inclined  from 
childhood.  While  an  apprentice  in  Cincinnati,  in 
his  eighteenth  year,  he  became  an  earnest  seeker  of 
salvation.  He  was  converted  August  12,  1822,  and 
a  few  days  afterwards  united  with  the  old  Stone 
Church  in  Cincinnati.  From  this  time  forth  he 
never  wavered  in  his  religious  integrity ;  his  piety 
was  constant  and  fervent.  In  February,  1825,  he 
was  licensed  to  .exhort,  and  in  September  following 
to  preach.  As  remarked  before,  he  was  received 
on  trial  in  the  Illinois  Conference  in  1828  and  ap- 
pointed to  Bloomington  Circuit,  Indiana,  and  the 
next  year  to  Salem.  All  the  rest  of  his  appoint- 
ments, save  one,  were  in  Illinois.  In  1830  he  was 
sent  to  Kaskaskia,  and  then  in  succession  to  Apple 
Creek,  Carrollton,  Jacksonville  Circuit,  and  Lebanon. 

In  1835  he  was  appointed  to  Mt.  Vernon  Dis- 
20Dr.  Phillips. 


JOHN  VAN  CLEVE.  369 

trict,  and  for  the  three  following  years.  He  was 
then  two  years  in  Rush vi lie  Station,  and  two  years 
at  Mt.  Carmel.  In  1842  he  was  sent  to  Hillsboro. 
In  1843  and  1844  he  was  presiding  elder  of  Mt. 
Vernon  District,  and  for  the  three  following  years 
on  Mt.  Carmel  District.  Then  for  two  years  he 
was  in  Quincy  Station,  and  the  two  following  on 
Griggsville  Circuit.  In  1851  he  was  transferred  to 
Missouri  Conference  and  stationed  at  Ebenezer,  St. 
Louis,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  was  transferred 
to  the  Southern  Illinois  Conference,  just  organized> 
and  stationed  at  Belleville,  where  he  remained  two 
years.  During  the  next  four  years  he  was  on  the 
Lebanon  District;  and  the  following  four  on  the 
Alton  District.  In  1862  he  was  appointed  to  Jer- 
seyville,  and  returned  the  following  year.  Then 
for  three  years  he  was  stationed  at  Centralia,  and 
in  1867  at  Cairo.  The  next  year  he  was  sent  to 
Edwardsville,  the  two  following  to  Bunker  Hill, 
then  to  Olney  and  to  Flora  two  years  each.  In 
1875  he  received  his  last  appointment,  Carlyle,  in 
which  he  labored  only  about  a  month,  when  he  was 
called  from  labor  to  rest.  He  was  elected  delegate 
to  the  General  Conference  four  times,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  death  he  was  a  member  of  the  General 
Missionary  Committee.  It  was  while  attending  the 
session  of  this  committee  in  New  York  that  he  was 
stricken  down  by  disease,  and  died  there  in  St. 
Luke's  Hospital,  to  which  he  had  been  taken  for 
medical  treatment.  McKcndree  College  honored 
itself  and  him  by  conferring  on  him  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity. 


370  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

"Brother  Van  Cleve  was  emphatically  a  self- 
made  man.  By  the  providence  of  God  he  was  de- 
pendent upon  his  own  efforts  in  his  boyhood.  His 
early  education  was  limited,  but  by  dint  of  persistent 
effort  he  overcame  obstacles  and  attained  to  schol- 
arship. He  possessed  a  vigorous  intellect,  a  well 
disciplined  mind,  and  a  generous,  noble  heart.  He 
was  a  methodical,  clear,  strong,  earnest  preacher, 
sometimes  eloquent.  Thirty  years  ago,  to  meet  a 
demand  of  the  times,  he  often  preached  controver- 
sial sermons.  In  this  department  of  pulpit  effort  he 
had  no  superior  in  this  country.  He  was  strong  in 
his  convictions  and  positive  in  his  statements,  yet 
he  always  treated  with  respect  those  who  differed 
with  him.  He  was  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with 
all  the  work  of  the  Church,  and  enthusiastic  in  his 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  education."21 

Brother  Van  Cleve  was  a  man  of  strong  com- 
mon sense,  eminently  practical,  and  free  from  all 
pretension.  He  was  an  excellent  presiding  elder,  a 
good  business  man,  well  acquainted  with  Methodist 
law,  and  strongly  attached  to  Methodist  usages. 
As  a  preacher  he  was  able,  dignified,  clear,  and  for- 
cible, never  wearying  his  hearers,  and  always  leav- 
ing upon  their  minds  a  clear  and  distinct  impres- 
sion of  his  subject.  His  sermons  were  always  timely 
and  appropriate  to  the  occasion.  He  was  a  good 
administrator  of  discipline,  attending  faithfully  to 
all  the  details  of  a  Methodist  pastor's  duty,  and  al- 
ways leaving  his  charge  in  good  order  for  his  suc- 
cessor. In  his  intercourse  with  society  he  was  ever 

"General  Minutes. 


9  STITH  M.  OTWELL.  371 

the  genial,  Christian  gentleman.  In  short,  as  his 
memoir  says,  he  was  "  a  devoted  husband,  a  kind 
father,  a  genial  companion,  an  earnest  Christian,  a 
friend  of  humanity,  and  an  able  minister  of  the 
Lord  Jesus." 

BOYD  PHELPS  was  received  on  trial  in  the  Illi- 
nois Conference  in  1829,  and  appointed  to  Carlisle, 
Indiana.  His  only  appointment  in  Illinois  was  the 
Jonesboro  Mission,  to  which  he  was  sent  this  year. 
In  1831  he  was  sent  to  Lafayette,  and  continued  to 
labor  in  the  Indiana  Conference  until  1838,  when 
he  located.  In  1851  he  was  readmitted  in  the  Wis- 
consin Conference,  in  which  he  labored  until  1856, 
when  he  was  transferred  to  the  Minnesota  Confer- 
ence, and  located  in  1857.  Two  years  afterwards 
he  was  readmitted,  and  labored  in  the  effective  ranks 
until  1880,  when  he  was  placed  on  the  superannu- 
ated list. 

STITH  MEAD  OTWELL  was  a  native  of  Georgia, 
born  in  Jackson  County,  August  2,  1805.  He 
moved  with  his  parents  to  Illinois  in  1811.  He 
was  religiously  brought  up,  and  when  only  twelve 
years  old  gave  his  heart  to  the  Savior.  In  1826  he 
was  licensed  to  preach,  and  immediately  received 
on  trial  in  the  Illinois  Conference.  His  first  four 
appointments  were  in  Indiana.  This  year  he  was 
on  the  Lebanon  Circuit,  and  the  two  following 
years  on  the  Macoupin  Mission.  In  ^1833,  his 
health  having  failed,  he  was  granted  a  superannu- 
ated relation,  in  which  he  remained  three  years.  In 
1836  he  was  appointed  agent  for  McKendree  Col- 
lege. The  next  year  he  was  again  placed  on  the 


372  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

superannuated  list,  in  which  he  continued  until  his 
death,  March  26,  1843.  For  several  years  he  faith- 
fully discharged  the  duties  of  treasurer  of  the  Con- 
ference Missionary  Society.  "  He  suffered  much  in 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  yet  he  never  murmured, 
and  rarely  spoke  of  his  afflictions.  Having  em- 
braced religion  when  very  young,  and  having  main- 
tained an  irreproachable  standing  in  the  Church  of 
his  choice,  all  through  life  his  mind  had  become 
deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  piety,  and  it  shone 
out  with  increasing  luster  in  all  his  various  rela- 
tions. He  was  thirty-eight  years  of  age  when  he 
died,  having  lived  twenty-six  years  in  honorable 
standing  in  the  Church  and  seventeen  in  the  min- 
istry. He  was  gentlemanly  and  dignified  in  his  de- 
portment, and  a  man  of  industrious,  economical, 
and  business  habits.  Being  very  amiable  and  affa- 
ble, and  a  consistent  Christian,  he  was  as  extensively 
beloved  as  he  was  known.  He  was  a  good  citizen, 
and,  therefore,  had  the  confidence  and  esteem  of 
the  general  community.  He  was  an  obedient  son, 
an  affectionate  husband,  and  a  good  parent.  On 
his  dying  bed  we  find  him  engaged  in  teaching  his 
little  daughter  Harriet  her  daily  lesson.  In  one 
word,  '  those  who  knew  him  best,  loved  him  most.' 
"  He  was  a  good  preacher.  His  style  was  correct 
and  chaste,  simple  and  strong.  His  gestures  were 
good,  and  in  his  preaching  generally  there  was  a 
pathos  and  solemnity,  an  emphasis  in  the  intona- 
tions of  his  voice,  and  the  manner  of  his  delivery, 
that  failed  not  to  secure  the  attention  and  affect  the 
heart.  His  preaching  was  practical,  doctrinal,  and 


STEPHAN  R.  BEGGS.  373 

sometimes  polemical.  Indeed,  he  was  faithful  in 
endeavoring  to  fulfill  his  ordination  vow,  to  edify 
the  Church,  and  to  drive  away  error  in  doctrine, 
and  evil  in  practice  from  her  borders.  He  was  a 
good  pastor,  and  hence  attended  to  as  many  of  the 
interests  of  the  Church  as  he  possibly  could.  He 
was  very  active  in  the  missionary,  Sunday-school, 
and  temperance  causes,  and  he  was  a  good  nurse  for 
the  young  converts,  the  babes  in  Christ."22  One 
who  knew  him  well  says  of  him  :  "He  was  a  hand- 
some man,  slender,  but  dignified,  and  would  com- 
mand respect  in  any  company.  He  had  a  great 
deal  of  personal  magnetism.  He  was  an  intelligent 
gentleman,  and  a  good  preacher,  persuasive  in  man- 
ner, but  faithful  in  declaring  the  whole  counsel  of 
God."23  "He  was  one  of  nature's  noblemen,  a  very 
devout  Christian.  After  he  ceased  traveling  he 
settled  at  Carlinville  and  engaged  in  the  dry-goods 
trade.  He  was  a  sweet-spirited,  pure-minded  man, 
very  useful  in  his  local  capacity,  and  very  skillful 
in  handling  the  Word."24  In  his  last  illness  he  was 
abundantly  sustained  by  the  grace  of  God.  When 
dying,  he  exhorted  his  companion  to  trust  in  the 
Lord,  saying,  "  He  will  take  care  of  you.  I  feel 
Jesus  in  my  soul.  I  have  peace,  peace,  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

STEPHEN  R.  BEGGS  was  born  in  Buckingham 
County,  Virginia,  March  30,  1801.  When  he  was 
four  years  old  his  parents  moved  to  Kentucky,  and 
two  years  afterwards  to  Clark  County,  Indiana, 
about  seventeen  miles  above  Louisville.  As  he  grew 

22  General  Minutes.    23  Dr.  J.  Logan.    24  Rev.  N.  P.  Heath. 


374  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

up  he  became  noted  for  his  physical  power,  and  was 
looked  on  as  the  strongest  man  in  Clark  County. 
He 'had  but  slight  opportunities  for  education  in 
his  youth,  but  by  diligent  study  in  after  years  he 
became  a  respectable  English  scholar.  He  enjoyed 
from  a  child  the  advantages  of  religious  instruction, 
and  was  early  taught  to  read  the  Bible.  He  says: 
"  I  formed  the  habit  of  prayer  very  young,  and  con- 
tinued it  regularly  till  my  conversion."  In  his 
nineteenth  year  he  attended  a  camp-meeting,  and 
then  he  was  soundly  converted  to  God,  as  were 
about  two  hundred  others,  seven  of  whom  after- 
wards became  preachers.  He  was  soon  appointed 
class  leader,  then  licensed  to  exhort,  and  soon  after- 
wards to  preach.  He  had  intended  to  go  to  school 
for  two  years  before  entering  the  itinerant  field,  but 
his  pastor,  James  Armstrong,  told  him  he  could 
better  receive  his  education  and  graduate  at  Brush 
College,  as  most  of  the  preachers  had  done,  and  so 
he  consented  to  join  the  conference  at  once.  He 
was  received  in  the  Illinois  Conference  in  1822,  and 
appointed  to  Mt.  Sterling  Circuit,  Indiana.  The 
year  was  one  of  severe  labor,  some  sickness,  but 
great  spiritual  prosperity  to  the  preachers,  and  in- 
crease to  the  Church.  At  a  camp-meeting  among 
the  hills  of  Patoka  he  sought  and  found  the  bless- 
ing of  entire  sanctification.  "  God's  will,"  says  he, 
"  became  my  will,  and  I  learned  to  live  in  him  con- 
tinually. All  my  soul  was  love,  and  for  weeks  I 
could  continually  sing : 

"  '  Not  a  cloud  doth  arise  to  darken  my  skies, 

Or  hide  for  a  moment  rny  Lord  from  my  eyes.' " 


STEPHEN  R.  BEGGS.  375 

There  were  numerous  Church  trials  and  difficul- 
ties during  the  year,  but  an  increase  of  ninety  in 
the  membership.  The  next  year,  1823,  he  was  sent 
to  Lamoine  Circuit,  Missouri,  five  hundred  miles 
from  his  former  charge.  This,  too,  was  a  success- 
ful year.  He  attended  the  conference  at  Padfield's 
in  1824,  at  which  the  Illinois  Conference  was  formed, 
but  he  was  continued  in  the  Missouri  division,  and 
sent  to  Falling  River  Circuit.  At  the  close  of  the 
year,  at  his  request,  he  was  transferred  to  the  Illi- 
nois Conference,  and  appointed  to  Rushville,  Indi- 
ana. This  was  a  very  successful  year,  many  sinners 
being  converted,  and  many  believers  brought  to  the 
enjoyment  of  full  salvation.  In  1826  his  appoint- 
ment was  Vincennes,  and  the  next  year,  Wayne, 
Indiana.  Here  he  met  with  great  success,  as  de- 
scribed by  W.  C.  Smith  in  his  Indiana  Miscellany, 
His  next  appointment  was  Crawfordsville,  and  in 
1829  he  was  sent  to  Logansport,  remaining  on  it, 
however,  but  one  quarter,  and  being  then  removed 
by  the  presiding  elder  to  Bloomington  Circuit. 
From  the  conference  of  1830  he  was  sent  to  his  first 
charge  in  Illinois,  the  Tazewell  Circuit.  Here  he 
had  a  prosperous  year,  and  at  its  close  was  married 
to  a  Miss  Heath,  who  for  many  years  shared  with 
him  the  toils  and  privations  of  the  itinerancy. 
During  this  Summer,  in  company  with  Jesse  Walker, 
he  visited  Chicago,  and  after  spending  a  few  days 
there  a  class  of  ten  members  was  formed,  constitu- 
ting the  first  organization  of  Methodism  in  what  is 
now  the  metropolis  of  the  North-west.  The  next 
year,  1831,  he  was  sent  to  Chicago  as  a  mission  sta- 


376  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

tion.  At  first',  his  labors  were  attended  with  some 
success,  and  additions  were  made  to  the  membership. 
But  the  Black  Hawk  war  breaking  out,  and  the 
cholera  being  brought  to  the  place  by  the  troops  of 
General  Scott,  caused  most  of  the  people  to  leave 
the  place,  and  as  no  good  could  be  accomplished, 
Mr.  Beggs  himself  also  left.  In  1832  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  Des  Plaines  Mission,  to  which  he  was 
returned  the  next  year.  In  1834  and  1835  he  spent 
two  successful  years  on  Bureau  Mission,  the  mem- 
bership being  more  than  doubled  during  the  second 
year.  In  1836  he  was  appointed  to  Joliet.  He 
says  of  it:  "  It  was  a  glorious  year  to  me.  We  had 
several  conversions  with  strong  evidence  of  their 
being  born  into  the  kingdom,  and  especially  at  our 
camp-meeting  did  the  work  of  grace  thrive."  He 
built  this  year  the  first  church  in  Joliet,  having 
it  completed  in  time  for  the  last  quarterly  meeting. 
His  next  appointment  was  Forked  Creek  Circuit. 
"  This  year,"  says  he,  "  was  a  great  spiritual  feast 
to  my  poor  soul."  In  1838  he  was  again  sent  to 
Joliet,  and  in  1839  to  Peoria.  Here  he  was  very 
coldly  received,  the  people  having  made  arrange- 
ments to  secure  another  preacher.  But  despite  their 
indifference,  by  the  help  of  those  "without,"  he  suc- 
ceeded in  building  the  first  Methodist  church  in 
the  town,  and  having  it  ready  for  the  last  quarterly 
meeting,  where  the  Lord  graciously  revived  his 
work,  many  joining  on  probation.  In  1840  he  was 
sent  to  Peoria  Circuit;  in  1841,  to  Canton,  and  the 
next  year  to  Knoxville.  In  1843  he  was  transferred 
to  the  Rock  River  Conference  and  assigned  to 


STEPHEN  R.  %EGGS.  377 

Joliet.  His  subsequent  appointments  in  that  con- 
ference have  been  :  1844,  Milford;  1845,  Sycamore; 
1846,  Washington;  1847,  Napiersville ;  1848  to 
1850,  superannuated;  1851,  Flagg  Creek;  1852, 
Pawpaw;  1853,  Little  Hock;  1854,  superannuated ; 
1855,  Channahoii.  In  1856  he  was  again  placed  on 
the  superannuated  list,  on  which  he  has  remained 
to  the  present  time.  His  residence  is  Plainfield, 
Illinois.  He  is  now,  1883,  eighty-two  years  old, 
tall,  erect,  with  white  flowing  beard  and  hair,  and 
not  looking  more  than  sixty-five.  In  1868  he  pub- 
lished "  Pages  from  the  Early  History  of  the  West 
and  North-west,  embracing  reminiscences  and  inci- 
dents of  settlement  and  growth,  and  sketches  of  the 
material  and  religious  progress  of  the  States  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri,  with  especial  refer- 
ences to  the  history  of  Methodism."  The  work, 
though  destitute  of  proper  arrangement,  and  some- 
times in  error  in  its  dates,  contains,  nevertheless,  a 
very  valuable  collection  of  facts;  and  the  writer  is 
glad  to  acknowledge  the  great  use  he  has  made  of 
it  in  the  preparation  of  this  work.  JRev.  W.  S. 
Crisscy  thus  describes  him  in  his  prime  :  "  He  was 
fully  six  feet  high,  straight  as  an  arrow,  a  little  full 
in  the  chest,  of  good  health,  and  strong  constitu- 
tion. He  was  industrious,  faithful,  and  quite  suc- 
cessful when  young ;  but  as  society  changed,  his 
services  were  less  in  demand.  In  his  manner  of 
preaching,  he  strikingly  resembled  John  Strange. 
He  bought  the  school  section  at  Walker's  Grove, 
near  Plainfield,  and  settled  on  it,  not  moving  to  his 

appointments  afterwards." 

32 


378  METHODJSM  IN  ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
1831. 

CRAWFORDSVILLE  DISTRICT  —  James  Armstrong,  P.  E. 
'    Eugene—  A.  L.  Kisley. 
v  Paris  —  Jesse  Haile. 

WABASH  DISTRICT—  George  Locke,  P.  E. 
•    Ml.  Carmel—  James  McKean,  John  Fox. 

Wabash—  Thomas  H.  Files,  James  M.  Massey. 
—  Charles  Slocumb. 


KASKASKIA  DISTRICT—  Samuel  H.  Thompson,  P.  E. 

Kaskaskia  —  William  L.  Deneen. 

Brownsville  Mission  —  John  E.  French. 

Jonesboro  —  James  T.  Crawford. 

Golconda  —  William  Evans. 

McLeansboro  —  William  McHenry. 

Ml.  Vernon  —  James  Walker. 

Slioal  Creek  —  John  H.  Benson. 

She/byville  —  Barton  Randle. 

Grand  Prairie  Mission  —  Simeon  Walker. 

SANGAMON  DISTRICT—  Peter  Cartwright,  P.  E. 

Lebanon  —  John  Dew,  W.  D.  R.  Trotter. 

Apple  Creek—  John  Van  Cleve,  Levi  Springer. 

Jacksonville—  William  H.  Askins,  John  T.  Mitchell. 

Atlas  —  Spencer  W.  Hunter. 

Spoon  River—  David  B.  Carter. 

Tazewell—  William  S.  Crissey. 

Salt  Creek  —  Amos  Prentice. 

Sangamon  —  John  Sinclair,  Asahel  E.  Phelps. 

Macoupin  Mission—  Stith  M.  Otwell. 


CONFERENCE  OF  1831.  379 

MISSION  DISTRICT— Jesse  Walker,  Superintendent. 
-    Deplain— Jesse  Walker,  Missionary. 
Chicago — Stephen  R.  Beggs. 
Fort  Clark—  William  Royal. 
Galena — Smith  L.  Robinson. 
_    Rock  Island— Philip  T.  Cordier. 

THE  session  of  1831  was  held  at  Indianapolis. 
It  was  presided  over  by  Bishop  Roberts,  and 
Calvin  W.  Ruter  was  elected  secretary.  The  ses- 
sion commenced  on  Tuesday,  October  4th,  and 
closed  on  the  afternoon  of  the  following  Monday. 
Twenty-one  members  were  present  at  the  first  roll 
call. 

Eleven  were  received  on  trial,  viz. :  George  W. 
Beswick,  Nathan  Fairchild,  William  M.  Daily,  James 
T.  Robe,  Cornelius  Swank,  William  McIIenry, 
James  Walker,  John  T.  Mitchell,  William  Royal, 
Levi  Springer,  Barton  Randle. 

Joseph  Oglesby,  Thomas  Davis,  Hackaliah  Vre- 
denburg,  and  Charles  Slocumb  were  admitted. 

Two  had  died,  Edwin  Ray  and  James  Bankson. 

Four  received  a  location :  Hardin  A.  Tarking- 
ton,  Aaron  Wood,  Isaac  Scarritt,  and  Geo.  Randle. 

The  following  local  deacons  were  elected  to 
elder's  orders :  Gamaliel  Taylor,  Isaac  G.  Lewis, 
Samuel  Hull,  Thomas  C.  Collins,  and  Jeremiah 
Dodson. 

And  the  following  local  preachers  to  deacon's 
orders :  Thomas  T.  Spillman,  Stephen  Liddle,  John 
Hughes,  John  Cook,  Hull  Tower,  Nathan  Fairchild, 
William  Clark,  Henry  Barnwell,  John  Cartwright, 
Daniel  Harcoat,  William  Taylor,  James  Walker. 


380  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Drafts  were  ordered  on  the  Chartered  Fund  for 
$80,  and  on  the  Book  Concern  for  $800,  and  $200 
in  addition,  which  was  left  undrawn  last  year. 

At  this  session  the  following  delegates  were 
elected  to  the  General  Conference  of  1832;  John 
Strange,  Allen  Wiley,  George  Locke,  James  Arm- 
strong, Samuel  H.  Thompson,  John  Dew,  William 
Shanks,  Peter  Cartwright,  and  Calvin  W.  Ruter. 

Four  alternates  were  elected  :  Thomas  S.  Hitt, 
James  Scott,  Joseph  Oglesby,  Jesse  Haile. 

Of  the  delegates  elected,  John  Strange,  John 
Dew,  and  Peter  Cartwright  failed  to  attend  the 
session  of  General  Conference,  which  was  held  in 
Philadelphia,  and  only  one  of  the  alternates,  Thomas 
S.  Hitt,  was  present ;  so  that,  although  the  confer- 
ence was  entitled  to  nine  representatives,  it  had  only 
seven. 

The  usual  collection  for  defraying  the  expenses 
of  the  delegates  was  ordered  to  be  taken  in  every 
charge,  and  in  case  any  of  the  delegates  should  fail 
to  attend,  they  were  instructed  to  give  timely  notice 
to  the  secretary  of  the  conference,  who  was  to  notify 
the  alternates  in  the  order  of  their  election. 

When  the  name  of  James  Bankson,  deceased, 
was  called,  and  an  account  was  given  of  his  last  ill- 
ness, Brother  McAllister,  of  the  Missouri  Confer- 
ence, who  was  present,  was  requested  to  bear  the 
grateful  acknowledgements  of  this  conference  to  the 
brethren  and  friends  in  St.  Louis  for  their  kindness 
to  him  in  his  illness,  and  W.  L.  Deneen  was  ap- 
pointed to  receive  any  money  which  any  of  the 
preachers  might  have  on  hand  for  Brother  Bankson. 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  UNION.  381 

A  resolution  was  offered  that  the  preachers  who 
had  been  employed  by  presiding  elders  should  be 
considered  as  claimants  on  the  conference  funds. 
The  resolution  was  not  adopted,  but  the  stewards 
were  afterwards  instructed  to  consider  Joseph 
Oglesby,  Nathan  Fairchild,  Leven  Green,  and  Bar- 
ton Ran  die,  who  had  served  as  supplies,  as  legal 
claimants  in  proportion  to  their  labors  rendered  as 
traveling  preachers  during  the  year. 

Sunday-school  matters  again  occupied  much  of 
the  time  and  attention  of  the  conference. 

A  communication  from  Rev.  Samuel  Sneed  was 
read,  in  which  he  requested  the  privilege  of  address- 
ing the  conference  on  the  subject  of  Christian  edu- 
cation as  connected  with  the  Sunday-school,  he 
being  superintending  agent  of  the  American  Sunday- 
school  Union  in  Indiana.  His  request  was  granted, 
and  Brother  McAllister  was  requested  to  respond  to 
Mr.  Sneed,  if  necessary,  and  to  give  a  general  view 
of  the  claims  of  the  Methodist  Sunday-school  Union. 
After  the  addresses,  a  vote  of  thanks  was  given  to 
Brother  McAllister  for  the  course  he  took  with  the 
American  Sunday-school  agent  for  saying  what  he 
did,  and  for  saying  no  more  than  he  did.  The  fol- 
lowing was  offered : 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  conference 
it  is  inexpedient  for  any  of  our  traveling  preachers 
to  accept  an  agency  in  the  American  Sunday-school 
Union." 

It  was  moved  to  amend  by  adding  u  without  the 
consent  of  his  presiding  elder  and  the  consent  of 
the  quarterly  conference  of  which  he  is  a  member." 


382  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

The  amendment  was  defeated,  and  the  original  mo- 
tion was  adopted  by  rising  vote,  only  one  voting 
against  it. 

The  conference  then  resolved  that  every  member 
would  use  his  best  efforts  to  organize  and  promote 
the  interest  of  Methodist  Sunday-schools,  and  all 
other  benevolent  institutions  of  the  Church  as  far 
as  practicable.  It  was  also 

"Resolved,  That  as  a  matter  of  expediency  this 
conference  have  a  special  agent  to  promote  the  in- 
terest of  the  benevolent  institutions  of  the  Church, 
namely,  the  Sunday-school,  the  Tract,  the  Mission- 
ary, and  Bible  Societies;  and  that  he  receive  twenty 
per  cent  on  all  the  money  collected  by  him  for 
Sunday-school  purposes  to  defray  his  traveling  ex- 
penses and  to  pay  his  salary,  provided  that  he  do 
not  receive  more  than  his  allowance  as  a  traveling 
preacher." 

A  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  examine 
the  probable  missionary  ground  within  the  bounds 
of  the  conference.  Their  report  was  "considered 
in  its  various  fields"  by  the  conference,  and  then 
adopted  in  full,  and  appropriations  were  afterwards 
made  to  them  as  follows:  Logansport,  $100;  Fort 
Wayne,  $75;  Iroquois,  $200;  South  Bend,  $75; 
Grand  Prairie,  $100;  Jonesboro,  $100;  Brownsville, 
$50;  Macoupin,  $100;  Desplaines,  $250;  Chicago, 
$200;  Fort  Clark,  $100;  Galena,  $250;  Rock  Island, 
$75— Total,  $1,675.  The  report  was  approved  by 
the  bishop  and  then  adopted  by  the  conference. 

A  communication  was  received  from  the  Marion 
County  Temperance  Society,  inviting  the  conference 


A  DRAFT  WITHHELD.  383 

to  moot  with  them.  The  invitation  was  at  first  de- 
clined on  account  of  the  pressure  of  business,  but 
the  conference  expressed  their  best  wishes  and  hearty 
resolve  to  co-operate  in  the  advancement  of  the 
temperance  cause ;  but  afterwards  resolved  to  meet 
with  them  on  Monday  night  "  at  the  lighting  of  the 
candle."  But  before  that  time  conference  had  ad- 
journed. 

Peter  Cartwright  reported  that  he  had  made 
some  payments  to  those  who  had  demands  on  the 
Pottawattomie  Mission,  and  he  was  continued  as  a 
committee  to  liquidate  the  claims  against  it,  and 
instructed  to  proceed  in  the  settlements  as  he  should 
deem  most  conducive  to  the  ends  of  justice. 

An  unfortunate  difficulty  occurred  at  this  session. 
that  resulted  in  the  retirement  from  the  conference 
of  one  of  its  most  useful  members.  Peter  Cart- 
Avright  stated  to  the  conference  that  in  consequence 
of  Brother  Isaac  Scarritt,  who  was  last  year  ap- 
pointed to  the  Fort  Clark  Mission,  having  failed, 
in  part,  of  discharging  the  duties  assigned  him,  he 
had  withheld  one  of  the  drafts  in  favor  of  said 
Scarritt,  amounting  to  $50.  The  draft  was  pre- 
sented to  the  conference  and  ordered  to  be  de- 
stroyed. Brother  Scarritt  had  asked  and  received 
a  location. 

Feeling  aggrieved  at  the  action  of  Mr.  Cart- 
wright  and  the  conference,  Mr.  Scarritt  was  granted 
the  privilege  of  appearing  before  it  at  its  next  ses- 
sion. After  making  his  statements,  the  conference 

"Itesolved,  'That  in  withholding  from  Brother 
Scarritt  his  draft  for  his  last  installment  as  a  mis- 


384  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

sionary  on  the  Fort  Clark  Mission,  no  impeach- 
ment of  his  moral  character  was  intended;  and  from 
all  such  imputation  this  conference  fully  exonerate 
him." 

The  result  of  the  affair,  however,  was  that  Mr. 
Scarritt,  who  had  as  a  traveling  preacher  been  quite 
successful,  remained  in  a  local  relation  until  1860, 
when  he  was  readmitted  in  the  Rock  River  Confer- 
ence and  placed  on  the  superannuated  list. 

An  expression  of  opinion  having  been  asked  by 
the  delegates  elected  to  the  General  Conference  in 
regard  to  the  division  of  the  conference,  the  mem- 
bers, by  rising  vote,  expressed  a  desire  for  a  divi- 
sion, two  only  voting  against  it. 

The  following  preamble  and  resolution  were 
adopted  : 

"  Whereas  the  General  Conference  has  become  so 
large  as  to  be  burdensome  to  the  brethren  where  it 
sits,  to  be  slow  in  its  proceedings,  and  expensive  to 
the  Church  to  defray  the  traveling  expenses  of  the 
delegates,  and,  also,  to  draw  from  the  work  many 
that  would  be  otherwise  employed  in  their  respec- 
tive fields  of  labor; 

"Resolved,  That  this  conference  recommend  to 
the  next  General  Conference  an  alteration  of  that 
part  of  our  Discipline  that  requires  one  delegate  for 
every  seven  members  of  our  annual  conferences,  so 
as  to  lessen  the  number  of  delegates." 

Bishop  Roberts  informed  the  conference  that  the 
stewards  of  the  last  session,  at  which  no  bishop  was 
present,  in  makvng  the  dividends,  had  appropriated 
a  larger  amount  to  the  .superintendents  than  they 


NEW  ARRANGEMENTS.  385 

claimed,  and  stated  that  he  was  prepared  to  return 
the  overplus.  The  conference  requested  the  super- 
intendents to  retain  the  surplus  amounts  that  had 
been  appropriated  to  them. 

John  Strange  was  elected  conference  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

Henry  Buell  complained  of  some  grievances,  and 
the  conference  ordered  that  he  be  tried  by  a  com- 
mittee of  traveling  preachers,  as  the  Discipline  di- 
rects, and  that  the  presiding  elder,  who  may  be  ap- 
pointed in  charge  of  the  district  in  the  bounds  of 
which  the  charges  originated,  proceed  to  try  him  as 
soon  as  convenient.  And  the  proceedings  of  George 
Locke  in  the  case  were,  on  motion,  approved. 

The  usual  resolution  of  thanks  was  then  passed, 
the  appointments  were  read,  and  the  last  session  at 
which  the  preachers  of  Illinois  and  Indiana  met 
together  was  closed. 

A  few  changes  were  made  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  work  this  year.  Two  appointments  that  had 
previously  been  in  the  Wabash  District  were  placed 
in  the  Crawfordsville  District,  Vcrmillion  and  Paris, 
and  the  name  of  the  former  was  changed  to  Eugene. 
The  Shawnectown  Circuit  was  cut  off  from  the  Wa- 
bash.  The  east  part  of  the  Apple  Creek  Circuit, 
and  the  newly-settled  country  between  the  Lebanon, 
Sangamon,  and  Shoal  Creek  Circuits,  was  formed 
into  the  Macoupin  Mission  and  connected  with  the 
Sangamon  District.  And  the  Galena,  Chicago,  and 
Fort  Clark  Missions  were  taken  from  the  Sanga- 
mon District  and,  with  two  new  missions,  the  DCS 
33 


386  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Plaines  and  Rock  Island,  formed  into  a  Mission 
District,  with  the  indefatigable  Jesse  Walker  as 
missionary  presiding  elder. 

During  this  year  Methodism  was  organized  in 
Macoupin  County.  Sermons  had  been  preached  in 
the  south  part  of  the  county  at  an  early  day  by 
local  preachers,  but  no  society  had  been  formed. 
The  county  had  been  organized  two  years  before,  in 
spite  of  the  opposition  of  Peter  Cartwright,  who 
was  then  in  the  legislature,  who  declared  that  "  God 
had  set  apart  this  region  as  a  reservation  for  geese 
and  ducks."  S.  M.  Otwell  preached  the  first  ser- 
mon in  the  county  seat,  Carlinville,  in  the  Fall  of 
the  year  in  an  old  log  tavern.  His  audience  con- 
sisted of  four  women  and  as  many  children.  The 
men  were  attending  a  horse-race  outside.  Mr.  Ot- 
well soon  after  gathered  a  class  of  nine  members 
there;  and  not  long  after  James  Cane,  a  local 
preacher,  organized  a  class  in  his  own  house  in 
Palmyra,  in  the  north-Avest  part  of  the  county. 

The  first  Methodist  society  was  organized  this 
year  in  Vandalia.  There  had  been  preaching  in 
the  place  ever  since  1818,  but  no  class  was  formed. 
But  now  a  class  of  seven  members  was  gathered, 
consisting  of  Dr.  N.  M.  McCurdy  and  wife,  Moses 
and  Susan  Phelps,  and  John  Delaplaine,  wife,  and 
daughter.  A  church  was  commenced  by  them  in 
1835,  but  was  not  completed  until  1837. 

Among  the  numerous  camp-meetings  held  this 
year,  we  have  an  account  of  the  first  one  ever  held 
in  Randolph  Grove,  in  McLean  County.  Peter 
Cartwright,  James  Latta,  and  others  preached  at  it. 


CH  URCH  B  UIL  T.  387 

Among  other  things,  Cartwright,  who  despised  East- 
ern missionaries  and  correspondents,  said  :  "  They 
represent  this  country  as  a  vast  waste,  and  the  peo- 
ple as  very  ignorant;  but  if  I  were  going  to  shoot 
a  fool,  I  should  not  take  aim  at  a  Western  man, 
but  would  go  down  by*  the  seashore  and  cock  my 
fusee  at  the  imps  who  live  on  oysters."  Mr.  Latta 
preached  at  popular  vices,  antf  was  particularly 
severe  on  horse-racing.  He  said :  "  There  is  a  class 
of  people  who  can  't  go  to  hell  fast  enough  on  foot, 
so  they  get  on  their  poor,  mean  ponies,  and  go  to 
the  horse-race.  Even  professors  of  religion  are 
not  guiltless  in  this  respect,  but  go  under  the  pre- 
text that  they  want  to  see  such  a  man  or  such  a 
man  ;  but  they  know  in  their  own  hearts  that  they 
want  to  see  the  horse-race." 

The  first  church  was  erected  this  year  in  Belle- 
ville under  circumstances  somewhat  peculiar.  Dur- 
ing a  quarterly-meeting,  which  was  held  in  a  hall, 
Brother  McAllister,  who  was  then  on  the  St.  Louis 
District,  having  come  over  to  attend  it,  the  congre- 
gations were  so  large  that  they  had  to  adjourn  to 
the  woods.  During  the  Sunday  service  a  heavy 
rain  fell,  and  the  congregation  got  very  wet.  The 
next  day,  Mrs.  Blackwell,  one  of  the  first  members 
of  the  class,  wrote  to  her  brother  in  Maryland,  ask- 
ing him  to  raise  money  to  aid  them  in  building  a 
church.  He  sent  them  fifty  dollars,  and  the  soci- 
ety then  went  on  until  enough  was  raised  to  put 
up  a  respectable  frame  building,  which  was  used 
until  the  erection  of  the  present  one  in  1849. 

Among  the   persons  who  settled  in   Illinois  this 


388  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

year,  and  were  or  became  Methodists,  was  JAMES 
PLASTERS,  who  was  born  in  Loudoun  County,  Vir- 
ginia, in  1791.  He  served  as  a  soldier  during  the 
war  of  1812,  and  participated  in  the  defense  of 
Fort  McHenry.  He  settled  near  Livingston,  Clark 
County,  and  remained  there  until  1858,  when  he 
removed  to  Marshall.  He  was  converted  at  a  Cum- 
berland Presbyterian  camp-meeting,  in  1832,  and 
united  with  that  Church.  But  when  he  came  to 
examine  its  creed,  he  found  that  with  the  doctrine 
of  unconditional  final  perseverance  he  could  not 
agree,  and  so  he  took  a  letter  and  united  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  he  remained 
a  worthy  member  until  his  death,  October  25,  1882. 
One  of  his  daughters  became  the  wife  of  Rev.  C.  D. 
James,  of  the  Illinois  Conference. 

The  increase  in  the  membership  this  year  was 
smaller  than  for  several  years  before.  The  entire 
membership  in  Illinois  was  10,257  whites  and  61 
colored,  an  increase  of  746  over  the  year  before. 

Among  those  who  labored  in  Illinois  this  year 
for  the  first  time  was  JAMES  M.  MASSEY,  who  was 
born  in  Tennessee,  while  his  parents  were  moving 
from  South  Carolina  to  Illinois  in  the  year  1809. 
In  his  eighteenth  year  he  was  converted  at  a  camp- 
meeting  in  White  County.  After  serving  as  class- 
leader  and  exhorter,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  in 
1830,  and  the  same  year  united  with  the- Illinois 
Conference.  His  first  appointment  was  Petersburg, 
Indiana.  During  the  rest  of  his  itinerant  life  he 
labored  in  Illinois.  The  following  were  his  appoint- 
ments: 1831,  Wabash;  1832,  Mt.  Carmel ;  1833, 


JAMES  M.  MASSE Y.  389 

Eugene;  1834,  Shelbyville ;  1835,  Vandalia;  1836, 
Okaw;  1837,  Mt.  Vernon ;  1838,  Mt.  Carmel  Sta- 
tion; 1839  and  1840,  Nashville;  1841,  Mt.  Vernon ; 
1842,  Mt.  Carmel  Circuit;  1843,  Fan-field;  1844 
and  1845,  Shawneetown ;  1846,  Lebanon;  1847  and 
1848,  Carlylc;  1849,  Highland.  In  1850  he  was 
on  the  superannuated  list,  but  the  next  year  he  was 
sent  to  Equality.  In  1852  he  fell  into  the  Southern 
Illinois  Conference,  and  was  appointed  in  succession 
to  Xenia,  Chester,  and  Salem.  In  1855  lie  was 
again  superannuated.  But  in  1856  he  was  again 
effective,  and  was  sent  to  Mt.  Erie,  in  1857  to  Xenia, 
and  in  1858  to  New  Middleton.  Here  he  ceased  his 
labors  and  sufferings  March  14,  1859.  "Brother 
Massey  was  a  faithful  man,  emphatically  a^Method- 
ist  preacher,  a  man  of  one  work.  He  loved  and 
defended  the  doctrines  and  discipline  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church.  He  was  at  all  times  ready 
to  resist  the  innovations  upon  any  of  our  long  tried 
rules  and  usages.  His  preaching  was  clear,  his 
manner  strong,  and  his  appeals  sometimes  irresist- 
ible. It  is  said  by  some  that  he  had  no  poor  ser- 
mon. He  suffered  much  during  the  last  two  years 
of  life  with  rheumatic  pains,  but  he  suffered  as  see- 
ing him  that  is  invisible.  His  last  sickness  was  ac- 
companied with  the  impression  that  his  work  was 
done.  He  spoke  of  death  as  a  matter  with  which 
he  was  familiarly  conversant.  His  physician  came 
int9  the  room  when  he  was  about  dying,  and  he 
said  to  him,  "  Doctor,  the  Avaters  of  Jordan  are 
coming  upon  me  fast ;"  and  added,  "  O  tell  my 
brethren  in  the  ministry  that  the  religion  I  have 


390  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

preached  to  others  is  sufficient  to  sustain  me  in 
death ;  it  is  indeed  the  power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion."1 One  of  his  colleagues  says  of  him  that  he 
"was  an  admirable  declaimer.  He  had  a  voice  like 
a  bugle,  and  lungs  that  never  got  sore  or  hoarse. 
He  was  a  great  revivalist  and  a  splendid  recruiting 
officer  for  Christ.  He  always  had  revivals  in  his 
charges,  and  large  ingatherings;  sometimes  too 
large,  necessitating  a  good  deal  of  pruning  by  his 
successor.  He  was  a  very  pleasant  man,  quite  com- 
panionable, and  showing  all  good  fidelity.  He  was 
not  an  original  thinker  or  investigator,  but  relied 
almost  wholly  on  the  opinions  of  others.  He  was 
an  indefatigable  worker  and  very  zealous.  He  made 
it  a  rule  never  to  neglect  an  appointment  when  it 
was  possible  for  him  to  get  there.  His  frequent 
journeyings  through  storm  and  exposure  brought 
on  rheumatism,  from  which  he  suffered  severely  for 
many  years,  and  which  finally  carried  him  off."2 

The  itinerant  career  of  WILLIAM  McHENEY 
was  a  short  one.  He  traveled  but  two  years.  In 
1831  he  was  appointed  to  McLeansboro,  in  1832  to 
Fairfield,  and  at  the  next  session  of  conference  he 
was  discontinued  at  his  own  request. 

JAMES  WALKER  was  a  native  of  Georgia.  He 
was  received  as  a  traveling  preacher  this  year,  and 
sent  to  Mt.  Vernon  Circuit.  During  the  next  two 
years  he  was  on  Brownsville  Mission;  in  1834,  on 
Wabash  Circuit,  and  at  the  next  session  of  confer- 
ence he  was  elected  to  elder's  orders,  and  granted  a 
location  at  his  own  request.  He  was  readmitted 

1  General  Minutes.        2  Rev.  E.  Joy. 


BARTON  RANDLE.  391 

the  next  year  and  appointed  to  Fairfield  Circuit, 
but  at  the  session  of  1837  he  again  located.  He 
never  afterwards  united  with  the  conference,  but 
for  about  thirty  years  labored  quite  extensively  as 
a  local  preacher,  and  occasionally  filled  appoint- 
ments under  the  presiding  elder  until  his  death. 
He  was  a  good  Christian  man,  enjoying  the  con- 
fidence of  all,  and  a  respectable  and  useful  preacher. 
Of  BARTON  RANDLE  nothing  but  good  can  be 
said.  He  was  born  in  Scriven  County,  Georgia, 
November  7,  1796.  In  his  sixteenth  year  he  was 
converted  in  Madison  County,  Illinois.  In  1831, 
after  he  had  traveled  part  of  a  year  under  the  pre- 
siding elder  on  the  Spoon  River  Circuit,  he  united 
with  the  Illinois  Conference  and  was  appointed  to 
the  Shelbyville  Circuit.  This  charge  then  embraced 
the  counties  of  Shelby,  Moultrie,  the  larger  portion 
of  Coles,  and  parts  of  Fayette  and  Cumberland. 
He  had  a  successful  year,  closing  with  a  camp- 
meeting  at  Wabash  Point,  at  which  much  good  was 
done.  His  next  appointment  was  the  Henderson 
River  Mission.  This  was  a  new  charge,  embracing 
the  scattered  settlements  in  Henderson,  Warren,  and 
adjoining  counties.  Mr.  Cartwright,  who  was  pre- 
siding elder  of  the  district,  states,  that  at  one  of 
his  quarterly  meetings  on  the  charge  this  year  there 
were  present  the  six  members  of  the  Church  and 
eight  who  were  not  members,  and  these  comprised 
the  whole  settlement,  save  one  family,  who  were  so 
much  opposed  to  the  Methodists  that  they  would 
not  attend  the  meeting.  "At  another  quarterly 
meeting  in  this  mission,  on  Sunday,  we  had  twenty- 


392  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

seven  for  our  congregation,  and  yet  the  scattered 
population  were  all,  or  nearly  all,  there  for  many 
miles  round,  and  when  we  administered  the  sacra- 
ment on  Sabbath  we  had  just  seven  communicants, 
preachers  and  all.  Barton  Randle,  the  missionary, 
though  a  man  of  feeble  health  and  strength,  was 
yet  faithful  in  hunting  up  the  lost  sheep  in  this 
new  and  laborious  field  of  labor.  He  suffered  many 
privations  and  hardships,  but  he  endured  all  as  see- 
ing Him  who  is  invisible,  and  I  have  thought  that 
he  was  among  the  very  best  missionaries  I  was  ever 
acquainted  with.  He  did  great  good  in  this  new 
and  rising  country,  and  laid  firmly  the  foundation 
of  future  good,  which  the  increasing  and  now 
densely  populated  country  has  realized.  No  doubt, 
many,  in  the  great  day  of  retribution,  will  rise  up 
and  call  Brother  Randle  blessed,  and  he  will  hail 
many  of  his  spiritual  children  in  heaven  from  this 
field  of  labor."3  The  next  appointment  to  which 
Mr.  Randle  was  sent  in  1833  was  also  a  mission- 
field — Galena  and  Dubuque.  While  on  this  charge 
he  preached  the  first  Protestant  sermon  ever 
preached  in  the  State  of  Iowa.  His  colleague  was 
John  T.  Mitchell,  who  had  filled  the  Galena  mis- 
sion the  year  before.  "On  account  of  the  difficulty 
of  crossing  the  river  (the  Mississippi)  at  that  time, 
the  work  on  the  mission  was  practically  divided, 
Mitchell  remaining  at  Galena,  and  Barton  Randle 
taking  the  new  work  at  Dubuque.  To  that  place, 
accompanied  by  his  colleague,  he  proceeded  on  Sat- 
urday, November  6,  1833,  and  there,  in  the  tavern 
3  Dr.  Cartwright. 


SUPERANNUATION.  393 

of  Jesse  M.  Harrison,  on  the  present  site  of  the 
Julian  House,  on  the  same  evening,  he  preached 
the  first  Methodist  sermon  of  which  we  have  any 
account  as  preached  on  Iowa  soil.  The  next  day 
his  co-missionary  Mitchell  preached  the  second  ser- 
mon at  the  same  place.  The  next  May  a  society 
was  organized,  consisting  of  twelve  members;  and 
during  the  Summer  a  hewed  log  meeting-house, 
twenty  by  twenty-six  in  the  clear,  was  built,  and  a 
two  days'  meeting  held  in  it."4  Mr.  Randle's  next 
appointment  was  Alton  Station.  But  his  health 
having  failed,  at  the  end  of  the  year  he  was  placed 
on  the  superannuated  list.  During  his  second  year, 
however,  his  health  being  partially  restored,  he 
was  employed  by  the  presiding  elder  to  assist  G.  G. 
Worthington  on  the  Carlinville  Circuit.  In  1837 
he  was  sent  to  Carrollton  Circuit,  and  in  1838  to 
Vandalia  and  Hillsboro,  a  double  station.  During 
the  two  following  years  he  was  on  Vandalia  Dis- 
trict, and  from  1841  to  1843  on  the  Mt.  Carmel 
District.  In  1844,  having  been  injured  by  a  shock 
received  from  a  stroke  of  lightning,  from  which  he 
never  fully  recovered,  he  was  placed  on  the  super- 
annuated list,  on  which  he  remained  five  years. 
Having  somewhat  recovered,  he  was  in  1849  again 
sent  to  the  Shelbyville  Circuit,  then  much  smaller 
than  when  he  had  traveled  it  before.  But  the  work 
was  still  too  much  for  him,  and  at  the  session  of 
conference  of  1850  he  was  again  granted  a  super- 
annuated relation,  in  which  he  continued  till  his 
death,  January  2,  1882.  One  who  recollects  him 
4  Kev.  E.  H.  Waring. 


391  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

on  his  first  circuit,  says  of  him,  "He  was  a  strong 
preacher  and  a  fine  theologian.  He  was  particularly 
strong  on  baptism  and  the  divinity  of  Christ.  He 
was  a  good  scholar  and  a  hard  student."  "  The 
last  twenty  years  of  his  life  were  spent  at  the  house 
of  his  sister,  Mrs.  M.  P.  Ripley,  at  Staunton,  Illi- 
nois. For  six  months  before  his  death  he  was  en- 
tirely deprived  of  sight  and  confined  to  his  bed.  All 
his  faculties,  except  the  spiritual,  seemed  to  fail ; 
but  he  never  lost  his  interest  in  Christ,  and  was  al- 
ways patient,  cheerful,  and  happy  in  the  midst  of 
his  sufferings.  Often  when  his  pastor  would  inquire 
after  his  welfare,  his  answer  would  be,  'As  happy 
as  a  king.'  " 5 

LEVI  SPRINGER  removed  from  Indiana  to  Illi- 
nois in  the  Fall  of  1823.  He  traveled  with  his 
wife  on  horseback.  They  slept  two  nights  on  the 
open  prairie,  with  no  protection  save  their  blanket, 
while  the  wolves  were  howling  around  them.  They 
settled  in  what  is  now  Cass  County,  a  short  dis- 
tance from  Virginia.  Mr.  Springer  united  with  the 
conference  this  year,  and  was  appointed  to  Apple 
Creek  Circuit.  In  1832  he  was  sent  to  Salt  Creek; 
in  1833,  to  Fort  Edward  Mission,  and  in  '1834  to 
Carlinville.  The  next  two  years  he  was  on  Pecan 
Mission,  and  in  1837  on  Athens  Circuit.  At  the 
end  of  the  year  he  located.  He  was  a  strong 
preacher,  sometimes  rather  lengthy.  As  a  local 
preacher  he  labored  quite  extensively  and  usefully. 
He  loved  the  Church,  and  was  highly  esteemed  on 
the  circuit  on  which  he  lived. 

&Rev.  W.  Van  Cleve. 


JOHN  T.   MITCHELL.  395 

The  following  sketch  of  JOHN  T.  MITCHELL  is 
mostly  condensed  from  the  excellent  memoir  of  him 
in  the  General  Minutes.  He  was  born  August  20, 
1810,  near  the  village  of  Salem,  Botetourt  County, 
Virginia.  In  1817  his  father  moved  to  Illinois  and 
settled  near  Belleville.  In  the  Fall  of  1829,  John, 
then  a  lad  of  nineteen  years,  attended  what  was  de- 
nominated in  those  times  a  conference  camp-meet- 
ing, "  when  he  was  awakened  to  a  sense  of  his  lost 
condition  as  a  sinner,  and  formed  a  resolution  to 
devote  his  life  to  the  service  of  God.  He  accord- 
ingly united  with  the  Church  as  a  probationer,  but 
did  not  then  obtain  an  evidence  of  his  conversion. 
At  a  camp-meeting,  however,  held  later  in  the  same 
season,  near  Carlyle,  he  obtained  the  forgiveness  of 
sins  and  the  witness  of  the  spirit  that  he  was  a 
child  of  God.  The  next  Spring  he  was  appointed 
assistant  superintendent  of  a  Sunday-school,  and 
while  engaged  in  that  work  became  convinced  that 
God  had  called  him  to  the  work  of  the  ministry. 
He  accordingly  received  license  to  preach,  and  in 
April,  1831,  delivered  his  first  sermon  in  the  town 
of  Hillsboro."  That  Fall  he  was  received  into  the 
Illinois  Conference,  and  appointed  to  Jacksonville 
Circuit  with  William  H.  Askins  as  his  senior.  The 
next  year,  1832,  he  was  sent  to  Galena  Mission,  and 
in  1833  to  Galena  and  Dubnque,  with  Barton  Ran- 
dle  as  his  chief.  In  1834  and  1835  he  was  at  Chi- 
cago. Mr.  Beggs  declares  of  his  labors  at  that 
time,  "To  the  zeal  and  efficiency  of  John  T.  Mitch- 
ell, Chicago  Methodism  is  greatly  indebted.  He 
gave  to  the  Church  a  thorough  organization,  and 


396  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

laid  the  foundations  of  her  future  usefulness  and 
stability."  In  1836  he  was  appointed  to  Jackson- 
ville, and  reappointed  the  next  year.  During  his 
pastorate  here  he  sought  and  found  the  blessing  of 
entire  sanctification.  Becoming  deeply  anxious  to 
promote  the  doctrine  and  experience  of  Christian 
purity,  he  organized  a  "  select  society"  in  accord- 
ance with  the  plan  of  Mr.  Wesley.  In  his  journal 
he  thus  records  his  experience:  "My  soul  this  even- 
ing was  drawn  out  in  prayer  that  the  blessing 
might  be  given  now.  I  confessed  my  unfaithfulness, 
I  pleaded  the  merits  of  Christ,  the  infinite  love  of 
God,  his  delight  in  making  his  children  like  him- 
self, his  promise  to  cleanse  from  all  unrighteous- 
ness, and,  glory  to  God,  his  Spirit  broke  into  my 
heart,  the  darkness  fled  away,  the  glory  of  God  was 
revealed  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  my  sin  was  all 
destroyed,  the  love  of  God  filled  and  overflowed  my 
heart,  and  all  my  soul  was  love."  His  after  life 
was  a  constant  heart-struggle  to  maintain  this  high 
and  rare  experience.  It  was  the  theme  of  very 
much  of  his  preaching.  No  congregation  to  whom 
he  ever  ministered  can  forget  his  frequent  and  pow- 
erful appeals  to  the  Church  to  arise  and  put  on  her 
beautiful  garments.  In  1838  and  1839  he  was  sta- 
tioned in  Springfield,  and  at  the  close  of  his  term 
was  transferred  to  the  Rock  River  Conference  and 
appointed  presiding  elder  of  the  Chicago  District, 
on  which  he  remained  two  years.  In  1842  and 
1843  he  was  sent  to  Mt.  Morris  District,  and  was 
at  the  same  time  appointed  financial  agent  of  the 
Rock  River  Seminary  at  Mt.  Morris.  By  the  Gen- 


AS  A  PASTOR.  397 

eral  Conference  of  1844  he  was  elected  assistant 
agent  of  the  Western  Book  Concern,  and  for  four 
years  he  performed  the  delicate  and  responsible  du- 
ties of  this  post  with  marked  ability.  In  1848  he 
was  transferred  to  the  Ohio  Conference,  and  stationed 
at  Ninth  Street,  now  Trinity,  Cincinnati, -where  he 
labored  with  zeal  and  success  for  two  years.  In 
1850  he  was  stationed  at  Wesley  Chapel,  in  Cin- 
cinnati, and  remained  two  years.  In  1852  he  fell 
into  the  Cincinnati  Conference,  and  was  sent  to  Ur- 
bana,  where  as  pastor,  presiding  elder,  and  one  year 
as  supernumerary,  he  lived  and  labored  for  seven 
years.  In  1859  he  was  reappointed  to  Wesley 
Chapel,  where  he  remained  two  years.  In  1861  he 
was  stationed  at  Park  Chapel,  and  the  next  year 
was  appointed  to  the  Cincinnati  District,  on  which 
he  labored  until  his  death.  He  was  a  delegate  to 
the  General  Conference  in  1840  from  Illinois  Con- 
ference, in  1844  from  Rock  River,  and  in  1860 
from  Cincinnati.  He  was  for  many  years  secretary 
of  the  different  conferences  to  which  he  belonged. 
From  the  beginning  of  his  ministry  he  was  a  close 
student.  Not  only  did  he  apply  himslf  to  the  study 
of  theology,  but  he  found  time  and  means  likewise  to 
gain  considerable  knowledge  of  philosophy,  mathe- 
matics, general  literature,  and  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages.  As  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  he  had  a 
high  and  growing  position  to  the  close  of  his  life. 
He  possessed  a  combination  of  social,  intellectual, 
and  moral  qualities  which  are  rarely  found  in  one 
individual.  A  heart  overflowing  with  love  for  a 
perishing  world,  an  understanding  clear  and  discrim- 


398  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

mating,  an  imagination  remarkably  chaste,  a  social 
manner,  serious,  affectionate,  yet  very  winning  and 
gentle,  all  combined  to  make  him  a  minister  of  ex- 
traordinary influence  and  usefulness.  No  one  who 
attended  his  ministry  ever  doubted  that  the  love  of 
Christ  constrained  him.  His  style  was  exceedingly 
neat,  simple,  and  dignified,  and  yet  very  impressive. 
At  times  when  his  soul  kindled  with  the  themes  of 
the  Gospel,  he  would  speak  with  a  tongue  of  fire,  and 
stir  every  heart  by  the  power  of  his  earnest  and 
eloquent  utterances.  In  the  use  of  language  he 
seemed  to  seize  by  intuition  the  words  best  adapted 
to  convey  to  the  understanding  of  his  hearers  the 
clear  and  forcible  conceptions  of  his  own  mind. 
He  was  greatly  skilled  in  the  use  of  pure  English 
undefiled.  His  sentences  were  often  striking  aphor- 
isms, brief,  comprehensive,  suggestive.  As  a  speaker 
he  was  in  many  respects  a  model.  A  graceful  dig- 
nity of  mien,  a  fervid,  affectionate  style,  and  a  di- 
rectness and  pungency  of  appeal  to  the  hearts  of 
sinners,  comprised  to  make  his  ministrations  a  great 
blessing  wherever  they  were  enjoyed.  Few  of  his 
brethren  in  the  ministry  have  excelled  him  as  a 
doctrinal,  and  at  the  same  time  practical,  preacher. 
In  his  religious  belief  he  was  steadfast  and  nil- 
movable.  He  embraced  with  his  whole  soul  the 
theology  of  Wesley,  and  never  wavered  in  the  con- 
viction that  it  was  more  nearly  a  transcript  of  the 
teachings  of  Christ  than  any  other  system  of  doc- 
trines held  among  men.  There  was  no  appearance 
of  fickleness  or  indecision  in  his  religious  life.  He 
did  not  grow  weary  of  opinions  because  they  were 


IN  CHURCH  WORK.  399 

old ;  nor  did  he  ever  manifest  the  slightest  inclina- 
tion to  embrace  new  views  of  Church  polity  or  doc- 
trine from  a  mere  morbid  desire  for  novelties.  No 
cunning  of  men  or  wind  of  doctrine  could  turn  him 
aside  from  the  deliberate  convictions  of  his  mind. 
His  personal  experience  was  so  inwoven  with  the 
grand,  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  cross,  that  he 
could  not  be  otherwise  than  firmly  rooted  and 
grounded  in  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints.  He 
loved  the  Church  of  his  fathers  with  a  great  and 
overmastering  affection.  He  was  exceedingly  zeal- 
ous of  her  honor,  and  seemed  to  court  life  and 
strength  only  for  her  service.  A  more  thoroughly 
tried  and  true  watchman  has  rarely  fallen  from  the 
walls  of  our  Zion.  And  yet  he  was  in  no  sense  a 
bigoted  sectarian.  Enthusiastically  devoted  as  he 
was  to  Methodism,  no  narrow  and  exclusive  spirit 
characterized  his  private  or  public  life.  He  was,  on 
the  contrary,  a  truly  Catholic  spirited  Christian. 

As  an  executive  officer  of  the  Church,  charged 
with  the  administration  of  discipline,  he  was  pro- 
verbially firm.  Very  few  men  are  endowed  in  this 
world  with  more  practical  wisdom  than  he  pos- 
sessed. On  all  questions  of  grave  moment  that 
arose  in  the  conference,  no  man's  opinions  had  more 
weight.  His  brethren  will  never  forget,  I  am  sure, 
how  often  the  clear,  brief  statements  of  the  secre- 
tary have  unraveled  the  most  perplexing  difficulties. 
His  cool  judgment  and  evenly  balanced  mind  always 
comprehended  the  practicability  as  well  as  the  de- 
sirableness of  a  thing.  As  a  counselor  in  the  Church 
his  place  can  not  easily  be  supplied. 


400  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

In  private  life  he  was  an  example  to  his  breth- 
ren. There  was  a  simple,  unaffected  courtesy  in 
his  manner,  a  genuine  politeness  in  all  his  deport- 
ment towards  others,  a  fascinating  charm  in  his 
fireside  and  social  intercourse  with  society,  a  hearty 
and  open-handed  hospitality  in  entertaining  friends 
that  won  the  hearts  of  all,  and  made  him  a  welcome 
guest  wherever  he  was  known. 

In  March,  1863,  he  was  seized  with  hemorrhage 
of  the  lungs.  After  suffering  for  some  time  in  Cin- 
cinnati, having  somewhat  improved,  he  resolved  to 
visit  a  sister  in  Minnesota.  But  before  he  reached 
her  residence,  Red  Wing,  he  died  on  a  steamer  on 
the  Mississippi,  on  the  30th  of.  May.  While  in  full 
view  of  death  before  he  left  Cincinnati,  he  said  to 
one :  "  I  am  going  home  to  rest.  The  port  is  in 
sight.  My  peace  flows  as  a  river.  I  have  a  desire 
to  depart  and  be  with  Christ."  To  another  he  de- 
clared :  "  I  am  unspeakably  happy.  I  am  waiting 
in  weakness  and  pain,  but  not  impatient,  for  God 
to  call  me  home.  I  am  a  sinner  saved  by  grace." 
To  another :  "  I  am  very  weak,  but  very  happy. 
My  Savior  is  ever  near  me.  I  have  no  fear — but 
peace,  perfect  peace.  I  am  waiting  for  my  change 
to  come." 

WILLIAM  STODDART  CRISSEY  was  born  in  Salis- 
bury, Connecticut,  April  21,  1811.  In  1815,  his 
parents,  who  were  Presbyterians,  moved  to  Cincin- 
nati, and  died  there  three  years  afterwards.  Will- 
iam then  went  to  live  with  his  uncle,  who  was  a 
druggist  and  physician  in  Cincinnati.  When  he 
was  ten  years  old  he  was  converted  and  united  with 


WILLIAMS.  CRISSEY.  401 

the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  the  Old  Stone 
Church,  afterwards  Wesley  Chapel.  A  large  num- 
ber of  boys  were  converted  at  the  same  time,  and 
formed  into  a  class,  with  Samuel  Huston  as  leader. 
In  1823  he  removed  with  his  uncle  to  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  and  two  years  afterwards  to  Blooming- 
ton,  Indiana.  While  there  he  received  license  to 
exhort  from  James  Armstrong,  and,  in  1829,  hav- 
ing removed  to  Paris,  Illinois,  he  was  licensed  to 
preach.  The  next  year  he  was  received  into  con- 
ference, and  sent  to  Paoli  Circuit,  Indiana.  In 

1831  he  was  appointed  to  Tazewell  Circuit.     This 
was  the  year  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  the  cir- 
cuit  being  on   the    frontiers,  there  was,  of   course, 
great   excitement   among   the   people.     But   despite 
this,  the  year  was  a  prosperous  one ;  two  good  camp- 
meetings  were   held,  at  both  of  which   there  were 
gracious  revivals,  and   some  increase  in  the  mem- 
bership was   reported   at  the  close  of  the  year.     In 

1832  he   was   sent   to    Jacksonville    Circuit.     The 
charge   included  what   are  now  Morgan,  Cass,  and 
Scott  Counties.     For  the  first  half  of  the  year  Mr. 
Crissey  was  alone,  but  in  the  Spring  C.  B.  U.  Mc- 
Cabe,  a  local  preacher,  who  had  just  come  from  the 
lead   regions  of  Missouri,  was  employed  to   assist 
him.     During  this  year  the  Asiatic  cholera  made  its 
first  appearance  in  the  country.     There  were  about 
one  hundred  deaths  in  Morgan  County  and  nearly 
sixty  in  Jacksonville.     And  yet,  despite  the  panic 
created  by  the  disease,  there  was  a  general  advance 
at  most  of  the  appointments,  and  a  slight  increase 
iu  the  membership.    Mr.  Crissey 's  next  appointment 


402  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

was  Mt.  Carrael  Circuit.  In  1834  he  was  sent  to 
Eugene,  and  in  1835  to  Danville.  The  latter  charge 
had  been  included  in  the  former,  which  was  divided 
at  the  conference  of  1835.  Mr.  Crissey's  residence 
was  at  Danville  during  both  years.  During  his 
first  year  he  commenced  the  building  of  a  church 
at  Danville,  and  completed  it  the  next  year.  It 
was,  for  those  days,  a  great  undertaking,  and  the 
whole  country  for  twenty  miles  around  was  can- 
vassed for  means  to  build  it.  At  the  last  quarterly- 
meeting  a  camp-meeting  was  held,  a  few  miles  from 
Danville,  at  which  there  were  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  conversions  and  accessions  to  the 
Church,  and  about  twenty-five  professed  to  be  en- 
tirely sanctified.  His  next  appointment  was  Mil- 
waukee, and  in  1837  he  was  sent  to  Joliet,  where 
he  remained  two  years. 

These  were  very  successful  years.  Many  souls 
were  won  to  Christ,  and  general  advancement  was 
made.  A  church  that  had  been  begun  before  at 
Plainfield  was  completed,  and  another  at  Joliet. 
In  the  Winter  of  1838  Mr.  Crissey  formed  the  first 
class  at  Lockport.  Mr.  Beggs,  who  was  his  col- 
league on  this  charge,  says  of  him  :  "  He  was  a 
good  preacher,  a  faithful  pastor,  and  possessed  a 
good  business  tact.  He  was  an  indefatigable  laborer, 
attending  to  all  matters  both  small  and  great."  So 
faithful  was  he  in  attending  to  all  his  disciplinary 
duties  that,  it  is  said,  while  on  this  circuit  he  read 
at  all  the  appointments  Mr.  Wesley's  sermons  on 
Dress  and  Evil  Speaking,  and  the  General  Rules. 
At  the  conference  of  1839  he  was  granted  a  super- 


HIS  FAITHFULNESS.  403 

annuated  relation,  which  he  sustained  until  1842, 
when  he  was  appointed  to  Decatur  Circuit.  This 
was  a  very  prosperous  year.  Between  sixty  and 
seventy  were  added  to  the  Church  in  Decatur,  and 
on  the  entire  charge  there  was  an  increase  in  the 
membership  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five.  His 
next  appointment  was  Springfield  Station.  Here, 
though  there  was  a  decrease  in  the  membership, 
was  a  good  revival  of  religion  and  a  number  of 
souls  clearly  converted.  At  the  close  of  the  year 
he  was  again  placed  on  the  superannuated  list,  on 
which  he  continued  until  1848,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  Rushville.  He  had  notified  his  presid- 
ing elder  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to 
fill  an  appointment,  and  yet  in  spite  of  this  he  was 
appointed.  He  did  not  go  to  the  charge,  and  at 
the  next  conference  he  was  granted  a  location.  Mr. 
Crissey,  as  stated  above  by  Mr.  Beggs,  was  a  good 
preacher,  somewhat  given  to  metaphysical  discus- 
sion, but  acceptable  and  popular.  He  was  scrupu- 
lous in  observing  all  the  requirements  of  the  Disci- 
pline, fasting  every  Friday,  visiting  among  the 
people,  and  regularly  meeting  the  classes.  In  this 
duty  he  was  particular  in  inquiring  of  the  members 
in  regard  to  their  attention  to  family  and  secret 
prayer,  and  their  abstinence  from  intoxicating 
drinks.  He  was  a  faithful  administrator  of  disci- 
pline ;  and  while  blessed  with  many  gracious  revi- 
vals of  religion,  his  forte  seemed  to  be  the  purifica- 
tion and  building  up  of  the  Church.  He  is  now 
(1883)  enjoying  a  vigorous  and  honored  old  age  in 
Decatur. 


404  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

No  better  man  ever  belonged  to  the  Illinois  Con- 
ference than  WILLIAM  ROYAL,  who  was  this  year 
received  on  trial  and  appointed  to  Fort  Clark.  The 
next  year  he  was  sent  to  Bloomington,  in  1833-4  to 
Ottawa,  and  the  next  year  to  Fox  River  Mission. 
In  1836,  his  appointment  was  Des  Plaines;  1837, 
Waterloo;  1838,  Waynesville ;  1839,  Winchester; 
1840-41,  Pnlaski;  1842,  Monmouth  ;  1843,  Rich- 
land;  and  1844,  Greenville.  In  1845  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Rock  River  Conference  and  appointed 
to  Peoria  Circuit.  In  1846-7  he  was  on  Little 
Rock  Circuit,  and  in  1848  at  Newark.  The  next 
year  he  was  on  the  superannuated  list,  but  in  1850 
he  was  appointed  to  Livingston  Circuit.  At  the 
close  of  the  year  he  was  again  superannuated,  and 
continued  in  that  relation  until  1860,  when  he  was 
transferred  to  the  Oregon  Conference  and  appointed 
to  Portland  Mission.  In  1861  he  was  sent  to  East 
Tualatin.  In  1862  he  was  appointed  conference 
tract  agent,  a  position  to  which  he  was  annu- 
ally reappointed  until  1868,  when  he  was  again 
placed  on  the  superannuated  list,  in  which  he  con- 
tinued until  his  death,  in  1871.  Brother  Royal 
was  a  deeply  devoted  Christian.  It  was  his  habit 
to  pray  in  his  family  after  each  meal.  He  was  a 
very  kind-hearted  man,  loving  his  neighbor  as  him- 
self. As  a  preacher  he  was  very  moderate,  but  he 
could  talk  about  religion  ;  and  his  deep  personal 
piety  and  the  interest  he  took  in  the  welfare  of 
others  rendered  him  acceptable  to  the  people.  He 
was  an  excellent  pastor,  and  a  very  prudent  and 
careful  man.  He  afforded  one  of  the  best  exam- 


REMOVAL  TO  OREGON.  405 

pies  of  the  success  of  a  preacher  of  very  moderate 
abilities,  but  possessed  of  an  eye  single  to  the  glory 
of  God,  ever  known.  The  one  talent  used,  in  such 
a  character,  becomes  more  than  the  ten  talents 
wasted  in  men  who  live  to  themselves.  He  made 
the  glory  of  God  the  great  aim  of  his  life,  and,  as 
a  natural  result,  God  blessed  his  labors  wonder- 
fully, and  made  him  an  instrument  of  good  to  mul- 
titudes of  souls.  In  1859  he  removed  with  his 
children  to  Oregon.  A  considerable  company  was 
formed  and  he  was  appointed  commander  and  chap- 
lain. Every  Saturday,  at  noon,  they  pitched  their 
tents,  and  did  not  leave  until  Monday  morning,  he 
preaching  to  them  on  the  Sabbath.  This  course 
was  kept  up  until  they  reached  the  edge  of  the 
desert.  Then  the  rest  of  the  company  concluded 
that  it  would  not  be  prudent  or  safe  for  them  to 
make  any  further  stoppage  until  they  were  safely 
through  the  dangerous  desert  and  Indian  country, 
and  so  they  pushed  on,  leaving  him  and  his  family, 
for  Brother  Royal  had  made  up  his  mind  that, 
whatever  might  be  the  danger,  he  would  trust  in 
God  and  honor  his  day.  The  result  was  that,  while 
the  other  party  lost  about  twenty  head  of  cattle, 
stolen  by  the  Indians,  and  suffered  severely  from 
storms,  Brother  Royal  and  his  family  got  through 
pleasantly  and  safely,  and  overtook  the  others  before 
they  reached  their  destination*  He  was  mighty  in 
prayer.  At  a  quarterly-meeting  on  the  Ottawa 
Circuit,  at  which  John  Sinclair,  Stephen  R.  Beggs, 
and  William  Royal  were  present,  a  brother  who 
had  recently  come  to  the  country  remarked,  "  that 


406  METHODISM  IN  ILLINOIS. 

if  he  only  had  Brother  Beggs  to  preach,  Brother 
Sinclair  to  exhort,  for  he  was  mighty  therein,  and 
Brother  Royal  to  pray,  he  wanted  no  more."6 


IT  is  designed  that  this  volume  shall  be  followed 
by  others  on  "  Later  Methodism  in  Illinois."  As 
stated  at  the  beginning  of  the  work,  a  large  amount 
of  material  has  been  collected  by  the  author,  and 
he  is  daily  adding  to  his  stores.  He  hopes,  if  life 
and  health  are  spared,  to  send  out  a  second  volume 
in  1884. 


6Kev.  S.  E. 


INDKX. 


PAGE. 

AMFS  E  R                          348 

PAGE. 

Clarke  John       ...           30 

Amos,  Abraham,    ....    74 
Apple  Creek  Circuit     .    .  257 

Class  in  Illinois,  First,  .   .    29 
Clingan  John,     66 

Armstrong,  James,    .    .      214 
Amngton,  A.  W.,  ....  312 
Asians   W   H         ....  353 

Colbert,  George  A.,  ...    86 
Cole,  Philip,    239 
Cooper  John      169 

Atlas  Circuit       .       .         244 

Cooper  S   C    270 

Cordier   P  T       355 

Avers  John  E.,  345 

Corrie  familv,  171 

BAKBR  JACOB                       284 

Crawford,  J.'  P.,  355 

Crissey   W   S             .         400 

Bankson,  James,    ....  331 

Curtis,  Joseph,    162 

Bassett,  Samuel,  215 
Beauchamp   William          158 

NDAYLDSON,  GEORGE,   ...    83 
Davis  Thomas    154 

Beggs,  S.  K.,    373 
Belleville  Methodism,  234,  387 
Benson   John  H                  297 

Decatur  Methodism,  .    .    .343 
Decker,  John  A.,    ....  311 
Delap   Robert     .       .       .  180 

Bigbay  Circuit,    107 
Blackmail,  Learner,  ...    79 
Blackwell,  William,  .    .    .248 

Delegates  to  Gen'l  Conf.,  264 
380 
Deneen,  W.  L.,  .....  294 

Blaisdell,  John,  188 
Bogart,  Samuel,  276 
Brownsville  Circuit,  .    .    .228 
Buell   Henry                       288 

Desplaines  Mission,  .    .    .  385 
Dew,  John,  194 
Dewitt  County  Methodism  310 

Dixon  Joseph                     168 

CAMP-MEETINGS,  .  50,  51,  52,  53 
61,  70,  111,  131,  144,  155 
167,  171,  191,  192,  248,  265 
301,  386 
Carmi  Circuit,    228 
Carter   David  B      ....  332 

Dow,  Lorenzo,    164 

ECHOLS,  WILLIAM,  ....  272 
Edwards,  Lorenzo,     .    .    .330 
Essay,  Preliminary,  ...    13 
Eugene  Circuit                    385 

Cartwrifht   Peter    .    .  99  218 

Evans  William                    952 

Casad,  A.  W.,  189 

Casey,  Zadoc,  147 

FARMER  ELI  P    250 

Cash  River  Circuit,  .   .  76,  212 
Chambers,  William,  ...  242 
Chicago  Methodism,  ...    57 
Chicago  Mission      ....  341 

Files,  Thomas  H.,  .    .    .    .  252 
Fisher,  Orceneth,   ....  196 
Fort  Clark  Mission,  .    .    .  341 
Foulks   Joseph    240 

Church  in  Illinois  First       46 

Fox   John                        .    .  067 

"         "         "       Second,  56 

Fox  River  Mission,    .    .    .  309 
407 

408 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 
76 

PAGE. 

Illinois  Territory,  ....    28 
State,  151 
Iowa  Methodism,  ....  392 

JACKSONVILLE  CIRCUIT,  .  .  342 
"             Methodism, 
178,  343 
Johnson,  James  E.,  .    .      217 
Johnson,  John  T.,  .    .    .    .276 
Jonesboro  Circuit,  ....  310 
Jones  W   R            ...  143 

French,  John  E.,    .    . 

GAINES,  RICHARD,  .    . 
Galena  Mission,  .    .    . 

.    .  299 

.    .  249 
.    .  282 

Galena  Methodism,   . 
Garrett,  Lewis,   .   .    . 

.   .  195 
.     2Q 

Gilham,  James,  32 
Gilham,  John  D.,  .    .    .    .  163 
Glanville,  John  182 
Golconda  Circuit,  ....  310 
Goodner,  David,     ....    99 
Goshen  Society,  37 
Grand  Prairie  Mission,    .  341 
Green,  Jesse,   198 

KASKASKIA  CIRCUIT,  .  183,  212 
Kerns,  John,    272 
Kersey,  Thomas,    ....  345 
Kirkman,  Thomas,     ...    78 
Kirkpatrick,  John,     ...    38 

LANDIS,  ISAAC,    249 
Lapham,  Alonzo,    ....  191 
Latta    James  ...       .      333 

Green,  Leven,  .... 

.    .  232 

HADLEY,  JAMES,  .   .   . 
Huile,  Jesse,    .... 

.    .237 
.    .  138 

Harbison,  John  C.,    . 
Hargravc,  Richard,   . 
Harris,  John,  .... 
Harrison,  Reuben,     . 
Harrison,  Thomas,     . 
Hart,  Miles,  
Heliums,  Thomas,  .    . 
Heresy,  Case  of,     .   . 

.   .106 
209,  252 
.    .  143 
.    .  184 
.    .    37 
.    .267 
.    .152 
.    .262 
.      210 

Lawrenceville  Methodism,  265 
Leach    F  B                          194 

Lebanon  Circuit,    ....  310 
Methodism,    .    .  234 
Lillard,  Joseph,  .    .    .    .    '.    29 
Locke,  George,    284 
Logan,  Dr.  John,    ....  248 
Lowry,  James,    166 
Lurton,  Jacob,    172 

MCALLISTER,  ALEXANDER,  172 
McHenry,  Daniel,  ....  127 
McHenry,  William,   .    .    . 
McKeau,  James,     ....  295 
McKendree,  William,  .    .    46 
McKendree  College,  .   .   .339 
McLean  County  Method- 
ism      191 

.    .  271 

Holliday,  Charles,  .    . 
Hopewell  Methodism 
House,  Isaac  S.,  .    .    . 
Huffaker,  Miles,  .   .    . 

.    .  234 
,  ..    .184 
.    .255 
.    .290 
.    .  185 

Hunter,  S.  W.,    .    .    . 

.   .  356 

Hussey,  Nathan,    .    . 
Hypes,  Benjamin,  .    . 

.    .  163 
.    .342 

.  212 

Conf.  Session,  1st,  205 
2d,  228 
3d,  246 
4th,  257 
5th,  278 
6th,  300 
7th,  335 
8th,  379 
Mission,    ....    38 
First  settlers  in,  .    27 

McLeansboro  Circuit,    .    .  341 
McReynolds,  J.  W.,  .    .    .  238 
McReynolds,  William,  .    .  192 
Macoupin  Methodism,  .    .  386 
_  Mission,.   .   .   .  385 
Massac  Circuit,    95 
Massey,  James  M.,    ...  388 
Matheny,  C.  R.,  45 
Mavity,  William,    ....  289 
Maxey,  Bennett,    ....  163 

.  INDEX. 


409 


¥1 

Mayo,  Jonathan,    .... 
Medford,  William,  .... 
Moth.  Prot.  Church,  .  282, 
Miller  John     

LGE. 

190 
217 
283 
200 
164 
212 
395 
146 
64 
175 
96 
215 
157 
211 
212 

37 
105 

29 
41 
107 
371 

179 
265 
310 
191 
71 
102 
265 
228 
213 

344 
290 
371 
188 
162 
315 
388 
102 
229 
383 
148 
357 

391 

82 
3 

PAGE. 

Handle,  Parham,    .    .  172,  181 
Handle,  Thomas,    ....  216 
Rice  Thomas                        180 

Rigg,  Hosea,    32 
Risley,  A.  L.,  288 
Robinson,  Smith  L.,  .    .    .  272 
Rock  Island  Mission,    .    .  386 
Royal   William   .    .    .          404 

Missionary  Society,  First, 
Mississippi  Circuit,    .  183, 
Mitchell,  John  T.,  .    .    .    . 
Mitchell,  Samuel,   .... 
Moore,  Enoch,    
Moore,  Francis,  
Moore,  John,  
Moore,  William,  
Mt.  Carmel  founded,     .    . 
"         "        Circuit,  .  157, 
Mt.  Vernon  Circuit,  .  183, 

NEW  DESIGN,    
Noland,  James,  

OGLE,  JOSEPH,  

Ruddle,  Cornelius,     ...  188 

SACKETT,  SAMUEL,  ....  343 
St.  Louis  Methodism,  .  59,  120 
St.  Mary's  Circuit,  ....  104 
Salt  Creek  Circuit,     .    .    .310 
Sangamon  Circuit,  .   .167,  212 
Scarritt,  Isaac,  ....  273,  383 
Scarritt,  Nathan,     ....  169 
Scott,  James  181 
Scott  William                        33 

Scripps,  John,     .    .    .  110,  118 
Schuyler  County  Method- 
ism,    211 
See,  William,  243 
Seminary,  Conference,  260,  280 
302 
Sharon  Methodism.   .    .    .  179 
Sharp,  David,  165 
Shawneetown  Circuit,  .    .  385 
Shelbyville  Circuit,    ...  310 
Shiloh  Methodism,     ...    37 
Shoal  Creek  Circuit,  .  151,  212 
Simms  James,    176 

Oglesby,  Joseph,     .... 
Okaw  Circuit,  

Otwell,  S.  M.,  

PADON,  WILLIAM,   .... 

Palestine  Methodism,    .    . 

"     Methodism,  .... 

Patterson,  Josiah,  .... 
Pekin  Methodism,  .... 
Peoria  Circuit,    
"      Methodism,    .    .    . 
"      settled,  
Peter  William 

Sinclair,  John,     358 
Slocumb,  Charles,  ....  154 
Smith,  John,    98 
Smith,  William  H  186 
Spoon  River  Circuit,  .    .    .310 
Springer,  Levi,    394 
Springfield  Methodism,    .  179 
343 
Stephenson,  B.  C.,  .   .    .    .  334 
Sterrett,  William,  .    .   .   .  149 
Stewart,  John,     175 
S.  S.  Union,  American,  337,  381 

TARKINGTON,  H.  A.,  .   .    .  299 
Tarkington,  Joseph,  .    .    .254 
Tazewell  Circuit,    ....  342 
Thompson,  A.  F.,  .    .    .    .  315 
5 

Phelps  A  E    

Phelps  Bovd   

Piggott,  I.  N.,  
Pinckard,  N.,  

Plasters,  James,  

Pottawattomie  Mission,    . 
246,  261,  280,  307,  338, 
Pownal,  Joseph,  
Prentice,  Amos,  ..... 

HANDLE,  BARTON,  .    .    .    . 
Handle,  Josias,    

410 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Thompson,  S.  H.,  .    .    .    .131 

Walker,  James,  .   . 

PAGE. 

...  390 

Townsend,  William,  .    .    .188 

Walker,  Jesse,     .    . 

.    48,110 

Tremble,  H.  M  346 

Walker,  Simeon,     . 

...  362 

Trotter,  W.  D.  R.,  .    .    .    .304 

Ward,  James,  .    .    . 

...    66 

Watt,  Benjamin,     . 

...  309 

UNION  GROVE  METHODISM,    77 

Webster,  E.  T.,  .    . 

.    .    .217 

West,  Asa  D.,  .   .    . 

...  239 

VAN  CLEVE,  JOHN,  ....  368 

WMteside,  Jacob,  . 

.  110,  142 

Vermillion  Circuit,    .  190,  211 

Wilhelm,  Richard, 

...  148 

Vredenburg,  H.,     ....  173 

Williams,  Abel  L., 

...  266 

Wood,  Aaron,  .    .    . 

.    .    .  269 

W  ABASH  CIRCUIT,  .    .  107,  211 

Wrather,  Baker,     . 

...     86 

Little,  .    95 

Walke.  Ivv.  .                     .  101 

YOUNG.  BENJAMIN. 

.    34 

